Ethanol Generation
Resource Recovery has continued an extensive evaluation of available processes for the production of "green" energy. Our research first led us to consider biodiesel and further research has led us to cutting edge technology in the Waste-to-Ethanol field. This technology is extremely exciting because it will take post-sorted municipal solid waste (household trash) and turn it into ethanol.
- Waste material is gasified with oxygen at high temperature under controlled conditions to produce synthesis gas, or syngas: a mixture of principally carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
- Hot syngas is cooled and cleaned before entering a fermentation process. (The heat recovered from the hot syngas is used to generate renewable power for use in the process.)
- The cooled, clean syngas is introduced to naturally occurring bacteria, which converts it to ethanol.
- This process can convert waste into clean, renewable, cost-competitive transport fuel.
- This project will reduce greenhouse gases with the production of bio-ethanol.
- The bio-ethanol process delivers 90% greenhouse gas savings compared to burning gasoline in a car.
- One dry ton of waste will produce 90 to 110 gallons of ethanol.
- The waste-to-ethanol facility will produce 50 million gallons of ethanol per year.
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