From Giant microwave turns plastic back to oil:

A US company is taking plastics recycling to another level – turning them back into the oil they were made from, and gas.

All that is needed, claims Global Resource Corporation (GRC), is a finely tuned microwave and – hey presto! – a mix of materials that were made from oil can be reduced back to oil and combustible gas (and a few leftovers).

Key to GRC’s process is a machine that uses 1200 different frequencies within the microwave range, which act on specific hydrocarbon materials. As the material is zapped at the appropriate wavelength, part of the hydrocarbons that make up the plastic and rubber in the material are broken down into diesel oil and combustible gas.

First, I’ve been wondering for some time how long it would take before we begin large scale mining of US landfills for various metals, plastics (to be turned in to oil), etc. If this microwave technology is economical, we could have just taken a big step in that direction.

Second, the big question is the economics, which in this case means the efficiency of the process. How much electricity does the microwave gizmo consume? The article doesn’t say, but it does point out that one recycling company has already ordered one and expects it to recover enough oil to fuel itself and “a number of other machines” the company uses.

From Cellulosic ethanol breakthrough:

POET (formerly Broin), the largest dry-mill ethanol producer, has produced cellulosic ethanol from corn cobs. The company announced the results of the successful test along with their intentions to make cobs and corn fiber the feedstock for a commercial cellulosic ethanol production facility that will be jointly funded with the US Department of Energy (DOE).

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The cellulosic project that POET is jointly funding with the DOE will convert an existing 50 million gallon per year (mgpy) dry-mill ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa into a commercial cellulosic biorefinery.

The project is named LIBERTY: Launch of an Integrated Bio-refinery with Eco-sustainable and Renewable Technologies in Y2009. Once complete, the facility will produce 125 mgpy of ethanol, 25% of which will be from cellulosic feedstock.

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By adding cellulosic production to an existing grain ethanol plant, POET will be able to produce 11% more ethanol from a bushel of corn and 27% more from an acre of corn, while almost completely eliminating fossil fuel consumption and decreasing water usage by 24%.

Never forget that everything in our energy and environmental situation is a moving target. Everything. Consider what happens if this technology works as expected and can then be used to retrofit many of the existing corn/starch ethanol plants in the US. That would provide a substantial kicker in addition to the pure-cellulosic plants that will be coming online in just a year or so.

From Desertification threat to global stability: U.N. study:

Desertification could drive tens of millions of people from their homes, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and central Asia, a U.N. study warned on Thursday.

People displaced by desertification put new strains on natural resources and on other societies nearby and threaten international instability, the 46-page study by the U.N. University showed.

“There is a chain reaction. It leads to social turmoil,” Zafaar Adeel, the study’s lead author and head of the U.N. University’s International Network on Water, Environment and Health, said.

From Kremlin lays claim to huge chunk of oil-rich North Pole:

It is already the world’s biggest country, spanning 11 time zones and stretching from Europe to the far east. But yesterday Russia signalled its intention to get even bigger by announcing an audacious plan to annex a vast 460,000 square mile chunk of the frozen and ice-encrusted Arctic.

According to Russian scientists, there is new evidence backing Russia’s claim that its northern Arctic region is directly linked to the North Pole via an underwater shelf.

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On Monday, however, a group of Russian geologists returned from a six-week voyage on a nuclear icebreaker. They had travelled to the Lomonosov ridge, an underwater shelf in Russia’s remote and inhospitable eastern Arctic Ocean.

According to Russia’s media, the geologists returned with the “sensational news” that the Lomonosov ridge was linked to Russian Federation territory, boosting Russia’s claim over the oil-and-gas rich triangle. The territory contained 10bn tonnes of gas and oil deposits, the scientists said.

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The Law of the Sea Treaty is the world’s primary means of settling disputes over exploitation rights and navigational routes in international waters. Russia and 152 other countries have ratified it.

But the US has refused, arguing it gives too much power to the UN. If the US does not ratify it, Russia’s bid for the Arctic’s energy wealth will go unchallenged, proponents believe.

Fights over the resources in the Arctic and Antarctic regions will only intensify (and get stranger) in the coming years.

And don’t expect Russia, a country that’s shown no hesitation in using its energy resources as a weapon, to play nice.

From Dingell: Climate Change Can Wait:

A key House of Representatives energy panel will wait until autumn to craft major energy and climate change legislation aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions and dependence on crude oil imports, the head of the committee said today.

The comments from Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D., Mich.) come as the panel marks up a version of energy legislation that focuses on energy efficiency, improved power grids and developing renewable-fuel production and infrastructure. Dingell noted, however, that major provisions that committee members were hoping to include in the bill will be left out.

The Chairman said legislation to increase motor fuel efficiency, encourage coal-to-liquids technology as an alternative fuel, and have a renewable energy mandate “will be addressed in the fall in the context of comprehensive climate-change legislation.” Earlier in June, Dingell and Boucher, chairman of an energy and air quality subcommittee, said they would drop the most controversial measures outlined in draft energy policy legislation. Instead, Dingell said, “we are proceeding with legislation where there is consensus.”

Hey, no biggie–it’s not like any of this energy and environmental stuff is important or a pressing problem, or anything…