Class blog for sharing and commenting on current events in biology.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Clean Energy From Garbage


Andrew Dent September 10, 2012
Bio/ block c odd Ms. Daviss 
 Leonard, Randy. “Plasma Gasification Raises Hope Of Clean Energy From Garbage.” New York~.11 sept 2012, sec D: 3

This article is about a new way to dispose of our trash in an environmentally safe way. In order to do this we would need to do this we would need a machine that would break down the gas so it does not let bad fumes into the air. Mr. Robuau, environmental scientist, thinks he solved this problem. He is working along with the air force in florida creating a machine that safely way to dispose of trash without having to use unsafe chemicals or burn the waste. Many environmentalist are worried that this will discourage recycling. To this he says, “This is not incineration. This is gasification.” (par 5) By this he means that it does not destroy the garbage it just safely disposes of the gas as to know harm the environment. Left over medals are melted down and reused for steal. As well as disposing of garbage it also creates energy. 350 kilowatts of energy were created by 10 tons of garbage. the way this machine works is the pieces of garbage are cut by a mechanical shedder into two inch pieces. They then are moved to a oxygen poor chamber where the temperature reaches up to 9000 degrees and the garbage is instantly turned into a gas. The medal falls into a mullein pool which instantly cools the medal and creates ionized particles known as plasma. These particles heat the chamber to help break down the harmful gasses formed by the garbage. The cooled medal is taken and used as steal or other products. In the chamber with gasses that are from the garbage there are broken down carbon and hydrogen monoxide. These gases are the components of synthesis gas which is the gas found in furnaces. The gas goes through the plasma touch polisher which breaks down any remaining complex molecules. The synthesis gas is cooled to less then 200 degrees which purifies the gas. This gas comes out cleaner then the air we breath. The article goes on to say that this has interested many other companies in places like Japan, Texas, and New York. The addition of this green device might save the planet. 
The importance of this article is to show a better way to dispose of trash. The less trash in the ground the better it is for the society. Also the less bad fumes we release into the atmosphere the better it will be for the world. I chose this because it intrigued me that we can take something and completely get rid of  any existence of a think. 
The problem with article was that they never actually talked about how much it will cost to found this machine. They also never talked about how long it would last and what kind of backup plan was there if it failed. 

4 comments:

  1. The review of "Clean Energy From Garbage" posted by Andrew Dent is short detailed and had a lot of interesting information. Andrew starts the review the pollution problem revolving around garbage. Next he introduces the machine that breaks down garbage into energy and how it will affect every day life. I think he did a good job explaining what the machine was and the process it uses to create energy. I also found some of the facts interesting and helped me say focused and make the story better. For example "350 kilowatts of energy were created by 10 tons of garbage." Andrew also did a good job with using quotes and references to the article so the reader knew this information was correct. This review does a good job of telling everything that needs to be known with this article like how it helps society and even what the article doesn't include. I enjoyed this review and there are very few things i would correct but if I had to correct something I would add how the scientist could make it so everyone could use it everyday and how we can get it into everyday life.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I enjoyed reading this review, by Andrew Dent, on the article "Clean Energy From Garbage." He did a pretty good explanation on how the machine in the article works, and I like how he went into detail about the parts of the machine and what they do. I really liked how Andrew gave a brief summary at the end of talking about his article, because he gives key detail and he summaries everything up. Lastly, I like how Andrew included that not everyone may like the machine itself, he included, "Many environmentalist are worried that this will discourage recycling,"which is important because no matter how helpful the machine is, not everyone may agree. I found this summary fascinating, and the idea that a machine can do something so amazing. It makes you think that a machine can turn garbage, off all things, into air, that is essentially cleaner than the air you're breathing right now. This is something I would like to look into, and I think it's excellent other companies all over the world are, too, interested in this machine and want to get involved. To sum everything up, I believe Andrew did a good job on his review, and the article its self sounds intriguing to read. However, I would suggest that Andrew should try working on the flow of the review. The review was good at explaining the article, but he should have more transitional words in some parts, for example, "This gas comes out cleaner then the air we breath. The article goes on to say that this has interested many other companies in places like Japan, Texas, and New York. The addition of this green device might save the planet." Rather than just jumping to the next topic, he may add (after "This gas comes out cleaner then the air we breath"), "Because of this and how this helps our environment, the article then states, this has grabbed the attention... etc." However, that is just my opinion on the matter. Besides that, this was a pleasure to read and I do hope to find the article myself and hope to learn more about this machine.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I enjoyed reading this article "Clean Energy From Garbage." It was very interesting reading about all the ways our earth and society can be helped by just one machine. The way the machine is able to decrease dangerous minerals into gas without leaving any dangerous gases is amazing. And the fact that it could fix our planet is also amazing. However as Andrew said we don't know many of the things about the machine, for example: How much would this cost. Or: What is the back-up plan. I think Andrew did a great job analyzing this article. In his paragraph I could clearly understand the concept of the machine and what he thought of this new invention. Although his writing was short it was well written and compact with loads of good information. Overall I think Andrew did a good job with this article.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The article "Clean Energy Fromm Garbage" reviewed by Andrew Dent was intriguing. I found it interesting that our garbage problem has found a solution. Whether or not it will succeed could determine the fate of our environment's future. I enjoyed reading Andrew's doubts about the machine because it not only showed that he was a creative thinker but also displayed how technology can not always be trusted or taken at face value. Another piece I thought Andrew wrote successfully was the summary of how the machine worked. Machines are very complicated things and understanding them takes time and effort. Andrew knew what he was talking about and did a good job on conveying the process to my understanding. I enjoyed reading the way Andrew summarized the importance. He took the key points in the article and analyzed them into understandable statements that addressed why the technology matters. I personally found the fact that there is a clean way of renewing garbage interesting. This is important for the future of human beings and the ecosystem of the world. In the future, I suggest that Andrew do a bit more background research and try to bring some opposing viewpoints to the table and explain them. Gathering information and opinions from people who disagree with the technology could highlight it's weaknesses and show that not everything is perfect. Explaining these opinions could help further develop the entire story of the article.

    ReplyDelete