In a bid to reduce the number of dangerous and expensive convoy missions trekking to remote base camps in Iraq and Afghanistan and to dispose of trash at those bases, the Army is backing an industry project aimed at turning solid waste into diesel.

Covanta Energy Corp. is using the $1.5 million boost from the Army Corps of Engineers to develop technology for converting garbage into diesel that would be indistinguishable from crude oil-based diesel fuel and usable for military vehicles and generators.

"If you could make fuel and eliminate a waste stream at the same time, that's pretty attractive," said the Army Corps of Engineers' Stephen Cosper, an environmental engineer who will help oversee the project. If successful, the technology would be especially useful overseas, he added.

The military's overseas fuel needs are massive. In 2008, the Defense Department supplied more than 68 million gallons of fuel every month, on average, to support forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Government Accountability Office. And the numbers rise when fuel used by diesel-toting convoys is included.

The escalation of U.S. forces in Afghanistan means fuel costs will likely grow in a landlocked, rugged country with spotty road networks watched by robbers and enemy forces. In June 2008 alone, 44 trucks and 220,000 gallons of fuel were lost due to attacks or other events during efforts to deliver fuel to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, according to GAO.

Processing trash at remote, temporary base camps in Iraq and Afghanistan is inherently tricky because setting up incinerators designed for long-term use is expensive, but burn pits -- ideally used to dispose of trash on a short-term basis -- have been linked to health problems for those exposed to them. In Iraq and Afghanistan, where no base camps are permanent, the reasoning behind when to bring in incinerators can be murky.

Any technology that could help large, semipermanent bases meet some of their own fuel needs on-site could help reduce fuel costs, health risks and inherent dangers to fuel envoys. That is where Covanta Energy's project may help the Army get ahead.

To make diesel from trash, Covanta Renewable Fuels LLC, a subsidiary of Covanta Energy, would take solid waste, blend it with heavy oil and a catalyst, and then heat the stew to 500 degrees in a specialized turbine reactor that could convert the organic trash into liquid diesel fuel, said Steve Goff, vice president of research and development at Covanta.

"It is a catalytic depolymerization process that would depend on a patented catalyst purchased from German company AlphaKat," Goff said. To his knowledge, he added, no one else is working on this type of technology.

4 Comments

1. 1. JamesDavis 07:51 AM 1/9/10

   How come this is the first time we have heard about using garbage on a large scale for creating energy to turn turbines instead of large amounts of food crops to turn to gasoline? America has enough garbage that it can burn and turn a million turbines for ever. I am sure it is easier and cheaper to cap the poisionous smoke coming from burning garbage than it is to cap the poisionous smoke coming from coal, oil, and natural gas. America, and especially West Virginia, needs to get its head out of its ass and start looking deeper into bruning garbage to trun turbines to create electricity and stop using coal, oil, and natural gas. The handful of jobs lost from coal and natural gas reduction can be replaced double or triple by burning garbage.

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2. 2. lakota2012 10:22 AM 1/9/10

   Since the U.S. military is the world's largest consumer of energy which includes many types of finite fossil fuels, turning solid waste into diesel, is a step in the right direction and solves two problems in a win/win situation.
   

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3. 3. jgrosay 08:37 AM 1/14/10

   The old technology of Burt-McCollum sleeve-valve engine can accomplish the task of silent, long-lasting, fuel saving and multi-fuel capacity engines for military vehicles, this technology also allows air cooling,that has less breakdowns in environments such as deserts or ice fields. Problem: it is more expensive, heavier and difficult to produce. You can have info on Aircraft Engine Historical Society

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4. 4. )jim(999 01:34 PM 2/1/10

   If good engineering is employed converting trash into oil can be a very good new industry. About 20% of human energy needs could be met from using trash to make oil rather than using landfill disposal for trash. Its not rocket science but it does require good engineering never used to dispose of waste matter. There are many benefits to the environment and economy that can be developed by applying good engineering to the problems trash generates.

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