Professor Peter Edwards, an Academic at the University of Oxford and Chair of CarbonMeta Technologies Inc’s Science Advisory Board, asks if plastic waste is a potential green energy solution.
Generations ago, in the spring of 1846 Canadian physician, Abraham Gesner was working late into the night on a new form of fuel. After failing twice as a sailor he was desperate to succeed. He worked to the light of a whale oil lamp – a fuel source that was quickly running out due to over whaling.
Gesner began experimenting with natural hydrocarbons in the 1840s using samples of bitumen, but the product had a pungent odour and it wasn’t until he switched to Albertite that he produced an oil that burnt without fragrance. Oil-based Kerosene would go on to become the dominant fuel for light for the next sixty years until the advent of electricity.
Now, as we face the endemic climate crisis, it is time for another significant change in the energy industry. Not only are we dealing with major emissions, but mountainous volumes of plastic waste are causing significant harm to our planet. At the current rate of production, global plastic waste is predicted to almost triple by 2060.
Now, as we face the endemic climate crisis, it is time for another significant change in the energy industry.
But did you know our plastic waste crisis could be turned on its head and used instead as part of the energy solution? What if I told you that your coffee cup and the 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups thrown away each year could be turned into cleaner, green energy?
With new, revolutionary patented technology, plastic waste can now be transformed by microwaves into hydrogen and carbon nanotubes, a cylinder-shaped form of carbon with fantastic electronic properties with a multitude of applications.
For example, these carbon nanomaterial products can be used in the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles, solar panels and industry.
Every metric ton of plastic waste converts into enough hydrogen energy to heat 200 homes for a day in winter. The process uses an inexpensive and abundant catalyst, such as small particles of iron which are mechanically mixed with waste plastics.
The catalyst selectively breaks down the carbon-to-hydrogen bond when heated in the microwave, creating carbon nanotubes, hydrogen and amorphous carbon – and also graphite.
As we finally transition away from fossil fuels we need an alternative mix of energy sources. Cars and bikes can be powered by batteries from this technology’s yield, but planes and heavy goods vehicles need other sources. Hydrogen from this process is light and energy-dense enough to do that job.
As we finally transition away from fossil fuels we need an alternative mix of energy sources.
It is imperative that we rapidly turn our attention to transforming plastic waste from being a scourge to fuelling cleaner vehicles and preventing further air pollution.
As past generations found themselves in a new dawn of practical energy sources, it is our time now to seek out new possibilities for the sector. Gesner was responsible for securing technological advancements and bringing us into a new era for humankind.
Now is the time to embrace a new transformation, changing our philosophy to advance plastic-to-hydrogen technology whilst also tackling the global menace of waste plastics.
As with Gesner and his innovative use of natural hydrocarbons, in this case, recognising plastic waste as valuable anthropogenic hydrocarbons is a major step forward.