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State Representative Paul Thissen
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5375
For more information contact: Ben Schweigert 651-296-5809
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REPRESENTATIVE THISSEN PROPOSES STATE SUPPORT FOR TURNING GARBAGE INTO ENERGY PLASMA ARC TECHNOLOGY WOULD PRODUCE FUEL AND OTHER USABLE PRODUCTS
Representative Paul Thissen has proposed that the State of Minnesota support a research and demonstration site for plasma arc technology, a process for converting garbage into fuel and other usable products.
“We need to be exploring new ways to produce energy for our growing economy," Representative Thissen said. “At the same time, we are generating more and more waste. Plasma arc technology is a promising way to reduce the amount of garbage we’re dumping into landfills while at the same time generating a clean energy source that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and other dirty fossil fuels.”
The technology uses plasma torches to produce high-energy plasma (ionized gas) at temperatures exceeding 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Materials subjected to these temperatures are reduced to their individual elemental components. This allows the processing of most municipal solid wastes into a hydrogen-rich fuel gas, a glass-like silicate product, and metals, all of which are marketable commodities. The process requires no smokestack, and hazardous compounds are not released into the environment. The waste materials being evaluated are agricultural biomass, municipal solid wastes, electronic wastes, and hazardous chemicals, all of which could be converted into benign substances.
The grant from the state would support research into methods for processing a variety of biomass materials and wastes under research conditions while gathering technical and economic data. This would allow for the development and refining of technologies for producing commercial products and supplying hydrogen that could then be adopted by private industry.
“This technology has been used in the steel industry for many years,” Representative Thissen said. “We are simply exploring its extension into a new application that offers many exciting benefits.”
More than 12 billion tons of waste is produced in the United States each year. Most of this is agricultural and municipal solid wastes, which are primarily composed of organic materials such as plant and animal debris, paper, wood, cardboard, and plastics. By processing these materials, plasma arc waste processing can dramatically reduce the tremendous volumes of waste material currently going into landfills and eliminate many pollutants accumulating in our environment.
The gas that this process derives from organic materials is normally at least 50% hydrogen. Waste producers and waste collection facilities in Minnesota and around the country are therefore ideally positioned to be major suppliers of hydrogen to fuel hydrogen vehicles, power fuel cells, and produce electricity in an emerging hydrogen economy. Since waste materials are either free or require payments (tipping fees) to the waste processors, this could mean a lower market price for hydrogen, making it a more competitive energy source.
The other byproducts of the process can be used to make abrasives, construction materials, and other metal products.
Representative Thissen’s bill, House File 1004, would provide previously established renewable energy funds to be allocated to the University of Minnesota Institute for Renewable Energy and the Environment. The funding allocation would be from the Renewable Energy Fund, established in 2003 as part of the Prairie Island settlement. The goal of the Institute is to address the urgent need of reducing our dependence on non-renewable, fossil-fuel based sources of energy and improving the health and sustainability of global ecosystems.
“At the end of the 1985 movie Back to the Future, Dr. Emmett Brown arrives back into the 20th century, driving a 21st century vehicle that was powered by garbage. It looks like technology might be catching up with science fiction,” Representative Paul Thissen said.
For more information, the following people can be contacted:
Arthur Peplow
IREE Participant
612-861-3344
apeplow@mn.rr.com
Dick Hemmingsen
IREE Director
612-625-2263
hemmings@umn.edu
Dr. Roger Ruan
IREE Bioenergy and Bioproducts Cluster
612-625-1710
ruanx001@umn.edu
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