Indiana Town Could Get Plant that Makes Ethanol Out of Garbage
The town of Lowell, Ind., is examining whether or not to build a $ 200 million plant that would convert garbage into ethanol.
Though such a plant might conjure up visions of the “Mr. Fusion” unit in Doc Brown’s DeLorean, the plants could create 165 permanent jobs and 400 construction jobs in the small town southwest of Gary.
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Powers Energy One, which last fall won a 20-year garbage disposal contract from Lake County’s waste management authority, is looking at a variety of sites in the town that have the rail and highway access to bring the waste to a plant.
Garbage-to-gas plants are drawing a lot of interest, including from big names like GM, for gas to power homes or fuel for cars and trucks. That’s because such plants may be more efficient at creating fuel than corn-based ethanol production and because they reduce the need for landfill space.
The Lowell plant idea is drawing fire from some local groups because of concerns about pollution from the plants. There’s a public hearing on the idea this week, and no certain timetable for any construction.
Photo credit: D’Arcy Norman on Flickr, via a Creative Commons license
In the fight against climate change, this is a step sideways, not a step forward. Carbon is being taken from garbage (plastics, metals, and organics) and turned into fuel, meaning the carbon eventually ends up in the atmosphere.
Even though some garbage breaks down over time, it is a much better idea to sink carbon in the rest of it than to send it into the air. We might as well burn the garbage to fuel a power plant.
The Swedes and Norwegians also bio-gas sewage and offal into consumer gas and Oslo runs its buses on the stuff - Not so the proud and mighty Yankee Doodle, who persists in breaking his countries economic back by burning expensive imported oil in his V-8 landcruiser, and spreads his Shiite all over his fair land, an enhancement I’m sure!
I hope not. I think all these pollution causing businesses are to blame for many health problems, including mine!
Why would the residents of Lowell want a fuel plant in the middle of their town? It will smell of garbage no matter what Powers Energy One says, after all they are trying to sell something (a plant). Why would the residents of Lowell want a hugh increase in their train traffic let alone large amounts of garage and fuel inside the city. These train will contain highly flammable and explosive fuel and what isnt fuel will stink. How nice will it be when people drop there kids off a the relatively new Oak Hill Elementary school and get to endure the wonderful smell of garbage, and the hard time they had getting there from all the trains and garbage trucks in their way. What about the value of homes that are right next to the Reiter plant location they are considering and even ones located miles away will be adversely affected, how do you sell a home when your town smells like garbage and there is a highly flammable and explosive plant sitting nearby.