Nothing happened, again. It is an un-necessarily cynical view of the world that "nothing happened" in the world in the last week. It was the first thought that came to mind as I contemplated writing my column for this week. It is, of course, absolutely not true. Horrific events took place. Many wonderful examples of kindness, compassion and human kindness flourished in a million places too. "Nothing happened," is a point of view that can only be taken by those in such dire circumstances that they have lost all hope, or those, like so many of us in North America, who feel that the ordinary events of life result in a numbing contentment, while we are insulated by our relative wealth and comfort from those events and people who struggle for a daily existence.
Believe it or not, my week of "nothing happened" was filled with a lot of thinking about those who do struggle daily just to survive. It is part of our company vision that renewable energy from cheap and readily available local energy sources will speed economic development and modernization wherever such progress has lagged behind the leading technological nations. Too long we dreamed the dreams of "Star Trek" and unlimited fusion power. I, too, am guilty of many hundreds of hours spent in that pleasant diversion, hoping the world would some day reach beyond the stars because the society that spawned the idyllic, peaceful, and idealistic men and women of Star Fleet might some day really come about. But it worries me when I see "nuclear power under re-evaluation" in news stories and headlines.
"Science" and scientists have been telling us most of our lives that "those darn man-made plastic things" will last "thousands of years" before they even begin to give back the chemicals from which they are made. I know that I and my young friends (of that time long gone by) used to think that governments should institute a law forbidding the introduction of any new product or substance, until and unless their was a recovery and re-cycling process for that thing. Still seems like a good idea to me, in theory at least, especially with regard to radioactive nuclear power waste. But I know now, too, that most of the plastics that caused us such fear over the polluting effects of nearly indestructible substances which would slowly but surely fill out planet with plastic garbage are now substances that yield fairly easily to thermal depolymerization. We now have the solution that we knew was needed 40 years ago.
What amazes me these days is that most people who encounter the information that we have such a solution to the massive plastic pollution that took place over the last 50 years are not rallying and shouting slogans like "depolymerization now!" Yes, that solution is thermal depolymerization and also chemical depolymerization, not to mention pyrolysis and gasification which have been shown to work on these substances too. Yet we don't seem to be considering the "social cost" that was so much on our minds as idealistic youngsters. Where are those people I knew all those years ago. I know that very few of them are still living on hippie communes (though a few are). I know that many of them are now business leaders, lawyers, judges and university professors (and I'm just talking about people in my own family). But where is the passion to cure the problems of the world. Are we really so mired in mortgages and sailing, horses and bicycle tours that we don't have time to try to see that what we do, as a society, should help improve the planet and the lot of the less fortunate.
By all means, let us cut greenhouse gas emissions and save the planet, but let us not forget the people. Remember, too, the economic benefits that spreading industry, energy and prosperity can bring. People, not all, but many, who are barely able to find food today would have plenty if they had energy to run pumps and drills for water wells, and a few seeds to plant in some otherwise worthless dirt.
Fact of the matter is, a lot happened this week. Why just since yesterday I got, and subsequently deleted, well over 400 unwanted email messages. The good news is that most of them were automatically identified as junk email, but unfortunately the system is not perfect enough that I don't have to at least glance at the sender and subject of just about every one of them.
I also spoke to a lot of very nice and interesting people. Someone put me in touch with Dave Baker. Dave is a really interesting guy. He claims that Paul Bakis, the man who holds the patent on which most of Changing World Technologies process, (now called their "thermal conversion process" but formerly know as) "thermal depolymerization" (or TDP) was originally based, saw his creations, examined his patents and came up with his version, which, Dave said, still needs to get back to some of the more basic principles embodied in his patented inventions. He spoke to me of a recently patented device that is a sort of "re-circulation auger" (my term, not his). This thing is the main feed mechanism for a pyrolysis like form of thermal depolymerization. This auger operates inside an enclosing sleeve. The auger itself is hollow and open at one end to receive (or discharge, because the whole thing can be run in either direction) feedstock, while the other end is open to a firebox or some other heating arrangement that heats the feedstock to a very high temperature. Dave actually calls it a fairly low temperature, but I wouldn't want to be sticking my hands into that inferno. In any case, once the feedstock arrives at the far end of the auger (Dave mentioned a 50 foot version he is running now) it is heated then flows back through the path outside the hollow auger, but inside the tight fitting sleeve around it. As the now superheated fluid (pyrolysis oil, or whatever Dave wants to call it) exchanges most of its heat with the inbound feedstock, it preheats the incoming stream so that the amount of energy required to achieve the desired process temperature is relatively much lower. Dave claims this method uses something like 80% less fuel than Changing World's process. I can see some significant differences, and some distinct advantages of both methods. It seems only logical to re-use the heat in the process. Changing World does at least some of that and my company's designs re-cycle and re-use "waste" heat at several different points along the way. Dave's process, like Dynamotive's, is essentially a one-step process. Occam's razor? Usually simpler is better, but there is always more than one way to skin any cat.
If you want to look at some of Dave Baker's patents you can search online for information on this whole list:
4,636,318 BAKER 01/13/87
4,842,692 BAKER 06/27/89
4,842,728 BAKER 06/27/89
4,923,604 BAKER 05/08/90
He also has at least a few others, including the one discussed above.
Oh, yes, one of those not so nice events of the week is an announcement that David Kelly's "The Wedding Bells" did not deliver the expected ratings when Fox moved it from the coattail slot behind American Idol, to their regular Friday time. Fox was politely positive but ceased production on the show. Three new episodes are schedule to run (unless I got the news late, and there's only two more after this past week). A very talented cast should not have trouble finding work. David Kelly's Boston Legal will be back next season so he is still busy, just not very busy for a guy who can turn out so much quality work in any given week.
I often say I don't believe in "coincidences", but it is strange how often commonalities pop up. The engineer I was talking to this week at GE-Jenbacher was also from Canada, (as am I) although he now lives (and works, mostly) in Utah. That inspired me to think of Drs. Banting and Best, the co-discoverers of insulin, the treatment (though not the cure) for diabetes. I know it may sound egotistical but thinking as I was of the responsibilities we all bear to try to make the world a better place, I hoped that such a coincidence might just be the occasion of putting together two motivated individuals who could once again change the fate of the world. The really odd thing was that I discovered, after this fellow told me of his origins in London, Ontario, I then discovered that London is the same town where Dr. Banting opened his first medical office. It tickled me. I hope the story didn't bore you.
I also had the opportunity to talk to a gentleman who processes trash. Of course, these days one needs to say, "municipal solid waste" but as he said in his email (before we spoke) he just loves to, "talk trash." I caught him on his cell phone as he was driving. He had to ask me to "hold" while he dealt with a dangerous traffic situation. I was relieved that I didn't cause him to crash. He's got some exciting plans to build a facility in what I would call the "deep south" this summer. If he tells me more about it, I will pass that along too, if he will permit it.
love
Stafford "Doc" Williamson
