Purdue University has been working to create a trash to fuel
converter called Mr. Fusion for the U.S. army. This device will take
food and paper, along with plastic and puts it through a process involving
shredding and then through a gasifier utilizing temperatures as high as 3000
degrees Celsius to turn the material into either ethanol fuel or gas. The
device can process 2500 pounds of waste every 24 hours. It is similar
to the size of a full size van, 13 feet long and 8 feet wide, which means it
can be put into almost any building. The inventors of Mr. Fusion hope that one
day it can be installed in office buildings and turn much of the waste produced
in the building back into fuel that can supply the energy for the building.
Energy breakdown: Mr. Fusion only takes 13 amps of electricity to
operate but
can produce up to 150 amps of electricity. The only waste that is
produced by the technology is a small amount of fine ash which is 1/30
th
of the original trash that goes into the machine. Although the prototype costs
nearly $950,000, Purdue believes the device will be available on the market
within the 2007 year for about a third of the cost. This initial cost can be quickly be
paid off by the money a business would save on its energy costs. To find out
more about this new technology please
click here.
