German Re-Engineered Plastic Fuel

With heavy hearts, we left Copenhagen to Hamburg, Germany. It was supposed to be the shortest leg of our voyage but...



…this wheel refused to close properly, causing an immediate return to the airport for maintenance. As many know, I am not a good flier and Gad’s persistent nudges to say, “hey, we’re right over the water, man!” didn’t help.



We arrived in Hamburg two hours overdue but still managed to see a good portion of the city – from a lovely central lake with canals and constant reminders of the upcoming World Cup.



On Monday, after a day of rest and laundry, we visited polymer chemist Dr. Walter K. at the University of Hamburg. His work compliments that of Dr. Kevin (see blog entry “Plastic is Yummy…To Bacteria”) in that he and his colleagues have been perfecting the pyrolysis process since the 1970’s.



In a nutshell, this beehive of tubes and condensers heat waste plastic to over 500 degrees C in a zero oxygen chamber. After several stages, the plastic is converted back to its original ingredient – petrochemicals. That’s right. This is true recycling. 20% of the recovered fuel is used to power the process itself, making the technology 80% efficient. It was a big deal during the 70’s energy crisis but died on the vine when oil prices fell. So it’s not surprising pyrolysis is back on the map.



This is epic stuff as ANY PLASTIC can be converted into gas for cars or back into the same plastic from which it came. Cryptic Moth will aim to visit one pilot plant in California later this summer.

Tomorrow we drive to Berlin to seek out the state of bioplastic in Europe, German landmarks and a plastic heart.

Out.

I+G

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