Comments on: Turning Wastewater into Ethanol

By: Tharindu

Tharindu — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:07:46 +0000

I disagree with Richard, ethanol can be used as a good transition fuel, to buy us time until solar power is made commercially viable.

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:11:36 +0000

We should be aware though that these alternative sources of energy still spew out a tiny fraction of greenhouse emissions. I think we should consider getting solar power instead.

By: slaps

slaps — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:08:04 +0000

Bill Partanen,

Waste water is first put in settling tanks. This creates two streams. One is water, the other sludge.
The concept in this article works with that sludge. The sludge is digested and the solids are trucked to a landfill or incinerated.

So, it doesn’t work with the entire waste water stream or with the solids. It works with the sludge. It has an effect on the solids, though. It reduces the amount of solids to 1/3 of what it would have been with ordinary digestion.

By: Bill Partanen

Bill Partanen — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:58:38 +0000

This seems to imply that you are going to turn the entire waste water stream into ethanol. Are you dealing with the solids content and turning that into ethanol or are you saying that you have found a way to burn water?

By: Aleks

Aleks — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:31:46 +0000

It would be quite enough, if produced fuel can covers treatment process expenses. It is clear that can’t be produced huge amount of fuel, but monetizing waste water treatment reduces industrial costs. Hope that will be common accepted in industry

By: David Lockwood

David Lockwood — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:02:49 +0000

Seriously, most of the history of alternative fuel technologies, has been dictated by the vested interests of the current fuel market. Technologies that don’t require a centralized distribution infrastructure, are suppressed. In favor of those requiring such an infrastructure, as these can be controlled and fuel prices manipulated to maximize profits.

By: Bonnie Parker-Duke

Bonnie Parker-Duke — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:02:21 +0000

What water in Africa? It seems to me that the big problem in much of Africa now is the extreme drought conditions.

By: slaps

slaps — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:54:58 +0000

I wonder if this will make treatment cost effective enough to be used in feedlots and other livestock operations.

By: Francisco A Roque

Francisco A Roque — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:26:07 +0000

All that is ok but leave corn and other food products out of the way, since production of hydrogen to power everything seems out of the question.

By: Allen Gale

Allen Gale — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:10:43 +0000

This is a great discovery, especially to be in the U.S.! There is one HUGE problem with this plan, and that is that it seems to be that the developers are looking to license the technology to ENERGY PRODUCERS! That is, by and large, Big Oil, who are not interested in anything that will detract from their primary revenue source – imported oil! One consideration of doing business with mainstream American corporations is that they would rather control and shelve new technologies if those will not support their “status quo”. Better to start new corporation(s) to use the technology than try to sell it to existing firms that are steeped in a tradition of a competing product.