Carrier bags
I reckon we should use more. They take a long time to break down, and are therefore effective carbon sinks.

Just a thought.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 19 Feb 2009, 15:23, 2 replies)

Hmmmmmm
I reckon you're trolling for an argument here.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 19 Feb 2009, 15:26, closed)

Naaah.
Can't be arsed.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 19 Feb 2009, 15:46, closed)

Yeah! And we could bury them
in predetermined locations around the country. Hey, we could even contain our waste products inside them, allowing the waste to by digested by the various bugs and vermin that would surely grow on such a goldmine of useful chemicals. They'd even give off gasses while decomposing that we could burn for power!

Oh, wait. That's what a Landfill is, and they're unfashionable.

Anyone know how much power could be derived from a properly managed landfill powered generator?
( uberdeity Wondered why Owen Lars knew of the term "hell" on, Thu 19 Feb 2009, 15:28, closed)

Have you any idea
how crap the amount of gas you get off a landfill is, or how difficult it is to harvest said gas?

It would be much better to incinerate the lot. The carbon dioxide emissions from combustion are much less harmful than allowing a landfill to produce methane which you then try and catch some of.

Plus, landfills cause problems with groundwater and can pose a risk to nearby houses form migration of explosive gases.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 19 Feb 2009, 15:31, closed)

Never mind "power"
(assuming you mean electricity) - I read a report the other day estimating that if we captured and purified all of the landfill gas, and piped it into the national gas grid, it would cover about half of UK gas demand (and cost about £10 billion, which strikes me as a bargain for a massive step towards energy independence).
(julius, Thu 19 Feb 2009, 15:32, closed)

But it's not possible.
You are talking about extracting gas from a massive pile of shit.

Every time you put in a standpipe to suck out the gas it gets clogged with the shit and fills up with highly toxic water produced when the materials are broken down by anaerobic bugs.

Plus a lot of the gas escapes out of the top and the sides.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 19 Feb 2009, 15:36, closed)

Meh, I'm not an expert on this
so go get it straight from the source: www.nationalgrid.com/NR/rdonlyres/9122AEBA-5E50-43CA-81E5-8FD98C2CA4EC/31630/renewablegasWPfinal.pdf

Given that these are the people that already run the grid, I'd hope that they know what they're on about. Which is a dangerous assumption to make, I know...
(julius, Thu 19 Feb 2009, 15:41, closed)

That actually refers to using bio digesters
for stuff like sewage and compost. Very good idea actually. But nothing to do with catching gas from landfills.

You can catch some gas, and a lot of landfills do, but it doesn't generate much power, it usually runs the landfill site huts and a small amount gets returned to the grid. Plus the point of landfill is stabilising the waste, which means you want it to stop making gas as quickly as possible.

Incineration is a much better idea.
(Bazongaloid, Thu 19 Feb 2009, 16:03, closed)

There's a very small landfill near where I live, out in the woods. There's a generator hooked up to it. No idea how much it's producing, but even a little out of a fill so tiny (seriously, about a football field or so)suggests you'd get some serious power out of a big one.
(Musuko, Thu 19 Feb 2009, 18:51, closed)