Why is there little interest from environmentalists in thermal depolymerization?

Question

Essentially it is a process which turns waste products (food garbage, plastics, old tires, etc) into oil which can then reduce landfill usage, destroy hazardous wastes, and provide fuel.

Read the wiki if you don't know what it is or want to know more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization

I am curious as to why there isn't as much interest from academics and environmental lobby groups. The technology doesn't even get tax credits as a biofuel, and efforts to shut down the existing plant (yes, the technology is already commercialized WITHOUT government help) and prevent new plants from coming online is ongoing.

Can someone explain to me why this is a problem? I mean really - if running my car on turkey guts is not considered renewable, I'd like to know what is.

Answer 1

edit:

Please accept my apology.  I look forward to more stimulating discussions.  

Yes, they are in a different league entirely and I shall reserve the venom for those who deserve it.

edit:

Ok, fine, point taken.  You have posted a presupposition in the form of a question, and it's offensive.  Maybe not patently so, but considering your previous posts it's offensive to me.  I've tried to be like Bob, but it's just not my personality.  I prefer to fight fire with fire.  Regards, J Blob.

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Who makes the policy?  Congress. For example, for decades we haven't been able to get one simple improvement through the system - an increase the cafe standards.

Who stymies alternate technologies that would impinge on existing business? Existing business interests.  Who has congress in their back pocket? Business lobbyists.

Oh, no, but it's the environmentalists who cause all this.

There are many promising alternate technologies.  Each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.  

The simple answer to your question is no, you are just wrong.  There is plenty of interest, but it has not been successfully commercialized for a number of reasons.  Chief among them is cost and lack of industrial quantities of readily available homogeneous feedstock.  As is the case with many of these technologies, it works great when optimized for a single feedstock.  But when you try to make a one size fits all to accept multiple or mingled feedstocks, it don't work so well any more.

Answer 2

You raise an interesting question.  I listen to a lot of public radio, and I don't recall it ever being mentioned, not even among the cloud of "green" stories on Earth Day.  I can honestly say that I had never, that I remember, heard of it before reading your question.  The info in the wiki article was all new to me.  It sounds like a fantastic idea!  There should be one near where I am right now using chicken waste -- the manufacturing plant where I work here in northeast GA is in an area heavy on chicken farms.

Answer 3

Because environmental activists aren't interested in solutions, they seek problems.  The game is about power, and creating scarcity is a great way to gain power so the last thing they want is for technology to eliminate scarcity.  Whether thermal depolymerization (or any other technology) is viable will be determined in the marketplace.

Answer 4

There is no money in it for/from lobbyists.

Answer 5

lots of research and small projects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar

its not part of the tax credit system because that has been negotiated to benefit existing big business.

you are using the wrong search term, there is a great deal of interest in pyrolysis in general.

there is a great deal of interest from environmentalists.

http://del.icio.us/search/?fr=del_icio_u...

http://del.icio.us/search/?fr=del_icio_u...

you just dont want to see it.