4 ms·
They produce a lot of toxic gases as the plastics often contain a variety of elements which when burned formed nasty compounds
by tedk-42 6y ago
They produce a lot of toxic gases as the plastics often contain a variety of elements which when burned formed nasty compounds
- lrem 6y agoFiltering that out is a solved engineering problem and you still remain energy positive.
- WealthVsSurvive 6y agoClean coal, clean diesel, now clean incinerated plastic: I don't doubt that it's manageable or maybe even fully solved, I just don't have much faith in it being employed. The track record of such things is not great.
- thu2111 6y agoThe local incinerator here in Switzerland isn't merely burning the waste. IIRC it gets vapourised using a high energy plasma or something like that, broken down to constituent atoms. At any rate it belches smoke into the atmosphere in the middle of a city, has done for a while and nobody seems to suffer any ill effects, so I believe them that the "burning" is highly effective.
- EForEndeavour 6y agoThat sounds like plasma gasification (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification). Out of curiosity, which city are you in? > it belches smoke into the atmosphere in the middle of a city, has done for a while and nobody seems to suffer any ill effects How long is a while, and how does that compare to the time it would take to detect meaningful increases in cancer or other illnesses in the vicinity of the incinerator?
- thu2111 6y agohttp://fernwaerme-zuerich.ch/index_en.htm http://fernwaerme-zuerich.ch/index_en.htm Was built in 1995, or so it claims, with other kinds of incineration being done for >100 years. So 25 years or so. I think that's enough time for a clear effect to show up.