From PESWiki

Non-oil-derived plastics, recycling plastic, solar applications of plastic; and other alternative, clean-energy related applications or contexts of plastic.

Plastic Back to Oil

• GRC Microwave Turns Carbon Items into Oil and Gas - Frank Pringle of Global Resource Corp (GRC) has invented and refined an efficient microwave energy process to turn plastics, discarded tires, and other carbon-based substances such as shale, coal, and tar sands into gas and oil.
  

• Polymer Energy LLC Turns Waste Plastics into Renewable Energy - The Polymer Energy™ system uses catalytic pyrolysis to efficiently convert plastics (primarily polyolefins) into crude oil. The system can handle as high as 30% impurities such as metals, glass, dirt, water, etc. in the feedstock, making pre-sorting, cleaning, or drying unnecessary, reducing overall operational costs.
  

Recycling

• Waste to Energy / Tire Recycling Breakthrough (http://www.kxmc.com/News/180264.asp) - Delta Energy's DEPolymerization™ (http://www.deltaenergy.com/) process takes one of the world's biggest pollution problems - discarded tires - and turns them into usable fuel, made possible by a secret chemical compound. 99% of the original tire is turned into something useful, from natural gas to diesel fuel to carbon that can be reused in the rubber and plastics industry. (KXNet.com; Nov. 12, 2007)

Non-Fossil-Based Oil for Plastic

• Biomass / Alternative Fuels / Non-Fossil Oil >
  Bacteria Make Oil from Biomass - A Georgia company has announced that they have devised a simple, natural way to convert anything that grows out of the Earth into oil. The inventor's formula is simple. Basically, biomass (such as grass clippings or wood chips) plus the right bacteria equals hydrocarbons, which make not just fuel but plastics and other petroleum products. (PESWiki; May 10, 2008)
  

Non-Oil-Based Plastic

• US Survey: 70+% of Americans Don't Know Plastic is Made from Oil (http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=ftfLlWd9aZbF2NXfwppam3Bd664=&newsLang=en&newsId=20070420005536&div=428291328) - 40% believe plastic will biodegrade at some point. In truth, nearly 10 percent of U.S. oil consumption – approximately 2 million barrels a day – is used to make non-biodegradable plastic. Survey was cosponsored by Metabolix, Inc. (http://www.metabolix.com/index.html), a company using bioscience to provide clean solutions for plastics, fuels and chemicals. (BusinessWire; Apr. 20, 2007)
  

• New Bio Plastics from DuPont (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/07/new_biopolymer.php) - More biopolymers are approaching commercial viability, adding to latex rubber and nylon-11 (made from a by-product of castor bean oil), which presently account for only a small fraction of the millions of polymer products in use today. (TreeHugger; July 6, 2006)
  

• Potatoes Could be Used for Bioplastics (http://www.physorg.com/news100409277.html) - A report by the University of Maine's Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center says the state's potato industry could benefit by becoming a producer of bioplastics, which are made from plant starch rather than crude oil and petroleum products. Bioplastics can be used to produce carpeting, upholstery fabric and recyclable plastic bottles, the report said. (PhysOrg; June 7, 2007)

• China's Bio-Chem to Harvest Plastics From Corn (http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36114/story.htm) - With oil costing more than ever before, Global Bio-Chem Technology Group Co. Ltd., the world's third-largest corn processor, is pinning its hopes on turning the grain into polyester and plastics. (Reuters; Apr. 24, 2006)
  

• Natural Plastic (http://www.exn.ca/dailyplanet/view.asp?date=4/21/2005#) - U.S. manufactures 100 billion pounds of plastics a year, non-biodegradable. Metabolics is creating plastics from biological (bacterial engineering) processes, from corn sugar; fully biodegradable; partnering with Archer Daniels Midland. (DiscoveryChannel.ca; April 21, 2005)

• Waste Plastic Becomes Clean Burning Fuel (http://www.wasteplastictechnology.blogspot.com/) - Penn. State University has developed PlastoFuel pellets from dirty waste Agri-plastics. GR Technologies of Korea has patented burner converting same to alternative energy. (Blogspot; June 6, 2005)

• Plastics (http://www.freeenergynews.com/Directory/Plastic/index.html) > Huge potential for bioplastics (http://www.physorg.com/news72362504.html) - It almost sounds too good to be true - turning cow pats into plastic. But the unlikely-looking liquid in the flask Dr Steven Pratt holds is the key ingredient to an environmentally friendlier drink bottle. (PhysOrg; July 17, 2006)
  

• 'Plastic oil' could improve fuel economy in cars, chemists say (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-06/acs-oc061305.php) - Recycled plastic bottles could one day be used to lubricate your car's engine. These polyethylene-derived oils could help improve fuel economy and reduce the frequency of oil changes. (EurekAlert; June 12, 2005)

• Bacteria are key to 'green' plastics, drugs (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-08/ru-bak082305.php) - Scientists are using a genetically modified bacteria that metabolizes glucose from grain sorghum and produces almost pure succinate, a key ingredient of many plastics, drugs, solvents and food additives. (EurekAlert; Aug. 22, 2005)

Other Alternative Energy Applications

Solar

• Konarka and Solaris Nanosciences Create Joint Research Program (http://pesn.com/2005/06/12/9600110_Konarka_and_Solaris_Nanosciences_Merge/) - Solaris' nanoscale metalic structures could boost the solar energy conversion efficiency of Konarka's portable power plastics. (PESN; June 12, 2005)
  

• XsunX Developing Solar Film for Buildings' Windows (http://pesn.com/2005/06/09/9600106_Transparent_Solar_Cell/) - See-through thin film plastic Power Glass™ integrates solar collection capabilities in a cost-comparable substrate to existing film products, taking energy gain into consideration. (PESN; June 9, 2005) (Thanks Sandi)
  

• Spray-On Solar-Power Cells Are True Breakthrough (http://www.tblog.com/templates//index.php?bid=enki&static=449906) - Scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn the sun's power into electrical energy, even on a cloudy day.

Remediation

• New Plastic to Cut CO2 Emissions and Purify Water (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/15/2040213) - Scientists have created a plastic material that mimics pores found in plants and is exceptionally efficient. It can separate carbon dioxide from natural gas a few hundred times faster than current plastic membranes. (Slashdot; Oct. 15, 2007)
  

Resources

• DMOZ > Polymers > Plastic (http://dmoz.org/Science/Technology/Materials/Polymers/Plastic/)
• DMOZ > Recycling > Polymers (http://dmoz.org/Business/Energy_and_Environment/Waste_Management/Recycling/Polymers/)

See also

• Directory:BioElectricity
• Directory:Conservation
• Directory:Recycling
• Directory:Waste to Energy

- Other Directory listings • Latest • A-I • J-R • S-Z • Tree • News
- PESWiki home page