Link:
http://www.plastic.com/article.html;sid=06/05/13/14115053
Shovel just about anything organic into one end of Brian Appel's processing plant, and two or three hours later, the other end gives down a surprising quantity of what amounts to No. 2 fuel oil — usable as-is or easily refined into diesel fuel, gasoline, or most any other light petroleum product, with modest amounts of sterile fertilizer and raw carbon as by-products.
This isn't the first time someone has turned trash into oil. This is, however, the first commercially viable process. Or so says Appel, chairman and CEO of Changing World Technologies, whose first commercial-scale plant in Carthage, Missouri is producing 500 barrels of oil per day from 200 tons of turkey-processing waste, supplied by the Butterball Turkey plant next door. Appel claims that CWT's process could turn just the agricultural waste produced by the United States into 4 billion barrels of oil annually, at a cost of just US$8 to $12 per barrel. Coincidentally, the US is currently importing just over 4 billion barrels per year. And paying about $70 a barrel for it.
In theory, at least, this is a dream come true for oil-thirsty Americans - indeed, for the entire world. As usual, though, the road between theory and practice is a bumpy one. CWT's production costs are far higher than predicted. Appel expected his company to be paid about $24 per ton of feedstock as a disposal fee; CWT is instead paying upwards of $30 a ton. Expected government subsidies were late in coming. The Carthage plant has been beset with complaints of foul odors which have led to repeated plant shutdowns, and forced installation of $2 million worth of scrubbers, biofilters, and other odor-control measures. All this has pushed actual production costs to as much as $80 per barrel, although Appel claims that optimizations in the process plus the recent granting of subsidies has enabled the Carthage plant to show a small profit.
While CWT still plans to expand USA operations with a plant expected to be based in Michigan (processing plastic scrap and other automobile-recycling leftovers), its main focus is shifting to Europe, where disposal costs and oil prices - and government subsidies - are higher. CWT subsidiary Renewable Environmental Solutions expects to have a biofuel facility operating in Ireland by next year, and is planning projects in Wales, England, and Germany.
More at link. I think this process is very promising, even though their first plant has had problems.