Army Turning Trash into Energy in Iraq

[NYVet]

http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/06/19/10194-army-turning-trash-into-energy-in-iraq/

Army Turning Trash into Energy in Iraq

Jun 19, 2008
BY Lindy Kyzer

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 19, 2008) -- Getting rid of garbage is a problem anywhere, but particularly at forward operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pair that with the constant need for fuel and the push for alternative energy sources, and you have the stuff of science fiction - the Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery, or TGER, which is already turning trash into energy at Camp Victory, Iraq.

<snip>

"We've got a lot of garbage at various operating bases, and it's got to go someplace," said Valdes. "So our logic was that at a forward operating base, could we use the garbage to make fuel and thereby get rid of the garbage and help to keep the convoys off the streets? And so that's how TGER got started."

TGER is small enough to fit into a CONEX container, but powerful enough to power a standard 60-kilowatt generator. TGER works by turning the solid trash into fuel pellets which are fed into a down-draft gasifier. The gasifier then heats the pellets, and breaks them down into a synthetic gas composed of simple hydrocarbons that resembles low-grade propane. TGER processes the liquid and food waste into a hydrous ethanol which is blended with the syngas to create usable energy.

<snip>

The 90-day test at Camp Victory will help determine future applications for TGER. With temperatures soaring toward 112 degrees and limited infrastructure at the base, it's a formidable testing environment.

<snip>

One of the potential applications Valdes already sees is the potential for TGER to be used in post-Katrina-type scenarios, where energy is scarce but trash is readily available.


NYVet comment- If this becomes commercially viable, it will help cut back the amount of fuel needed to create power and also help save some of our landfill space, which is a good thing.

[Taverner]

1. Why the fuck our Iraq bases aren't totally solar amazes me

[nomorenomore08]

2. War is a terrible thing, but it does often drive innovation.

And to post #1, yeah, you'd think being out in the middle of a desert, they'd make more use of solar energy. But since when have our operations in Iraq ever relied on common sense? :P

[kestrel91316]

3. I'd prefer they beat their swords into plowshares, but

I suppose under the current maladministration that would be asking just a tad too much........