3 ms·

Fuel consumption: 14 kg of plastic per 100 km, but to be fair it's a Volvo 240 with a tiny refinery mounted on the roof. Why don't the fuel producers do this?

• eptcyka 3y ago
  We kind of already do - just instead of making diesel, the plastic is burned to generate electricity. Since machines to harvest a difference in temperature or exothermic processes scales with size, one could argue it's more efficient to burn it in a massive, very efficient furnaces instead of converting the plastic into diesel that is then burned in an engine that must be operational at a far larger range of RPMs.
  • Ekaros 3y ago
    My understanding is that higher temperatures also mean some toxic byproducts get processed. And you can install scrubbers and other technologies to clean rest from exhaust... And with combined production also capturing waste heat after electricity production efficiency is comparatively good.
• jamil7 3y ago
  In countries like Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands it’s kind of done indirectly through waste to energy systems where plastic waste is burnt. I think there’s a few systems in place to mitigate the environmental impact.
  • westbywest 3y ago
    Highlighting Vienna's district heating system which does this, partly because the facility in Spittelau had artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser design it to look like a psychedelic castle. https://hundertwasser.com/en/architecture/910_arch73_fernwaermewerk_spittelau__792 https://hundertwasser.com/en/architecture/910_arch73_fernwae...
• nbutyllithium 3y ago
  > Why don't the fuel producers do this? I recall reading about some of them looking into it but running into issues ensuring a "clean" recycled plastic supply at the scales they need. Can't seem to find the article in my history but there's a ton of varied results I'm seeing from searches talking about the idea of recycling plastic. Example: https://www2.afpm.org/forms/store/ProductFormPublic/sum-21-35-plastic-recycling-and-refining-in-the-circular-economy https://www2.afpm.org/forms/store/ProductFormPublic/sum-21-3... I think one of the main issues was, at least in the US, chlorinated plastic (e.g. PVC) ends up in the bulk supply of used plastics through negligence/malice/whatever and even at a few percent ends up creating some pretty corrosive compounds which are difficult/expensive to remove before they damage the equipment. Looks like people are working on that issue too though: https://www.power-technology.com/features/plastic-pyrolysis-fuel-from-waste-plastic/ https://www.power-technology.com/features/plastic-pyrolysis-...