RICHLAND, Wash.-
People generate lots of trash, which later sits in landfills. This leaks chemicals into the earth.
So with this in mind, a team of PNNL researchers found a way to convert waste into fuel.
PNNL’s system is called an electrocatalytic fuel recovery system, and what it does is turn waste into things people can use like fuel, hydrogen, clean water, or valuable chemicals.
The process that existed for this purpose before used pressure and heat. It was powered by fossil fuels which creates more waste.
This method is electric, earth-friendly, and faster than other methods of converting waste.
Juan A. Lopez-Ruiz is a chemical engineer and project lead at PNNL.
“It’s not just one product we make so we can make. There are several. We can make diesel, gasoline, aviation fuels, also we have hydrogen. So there is a whole repertoire of things we can access using his technology,” said Lopez-Ruiz.
Their first step is liquifying waste products into a crude bio-oil.
Then, they extract the important compounds, to turn them into things we need.
This minimizes CO2 emissions and electrifies the system.
Lopez-Ruiz says market adoption is a few years out, but their end goal is to one day make this technology accessible to people and easy to use.
Learn more about this process here.
