Environmentalists
have found a new way to create energy as an alternative to fossil
fuel—trash.
Well,
not entirely new. Using municipal solid wastes as an energy source
has been common practice in European countries for over twenty years.
The United States, not unlike adopting the metric system, is a
little slow on the uptake.
Through
a heating process in the kiln, expert recycling companies have begun
using municipal solid wastes to turn the fuel formed from plastic
bottles into a vapor. This vapor allows kilns to emit significantly
less greenhouse gases than those produced by fossil fuels.
Fossil
fuels are a limited resource on our planet. Eventually, they will be
completely depleted leaving its users without a viable source of
energy. Unless, of course, a new source of energy replaces fossil
fuels before that happens. By using the fuel produced by municipal
waste, we are not only saving the environment from significant
damage, but we are also thinking ahead to the future.
Some
experts claim that these new fuels will still be damaging to our
planet and environment. However, the recycling companies are not
claiming that municipal waste fuels will be completely harmless. It
is unrealistic to look for a source of energy that won’t produce at
least a little bit of greenhouse gases. The goal is simply to
mitigate the amount that does get produced. The vapor that forms
after the macerated plastic waste burns is a new break through that
is much less harmful than fossil fuels. Now only is it safer for the
environment, but it is also better for the health of mankind. Fossil
fuels emit harmful chemicals that have been known to cause lung
cancer and radiation in people who live near their plants. Ridding
ourselves of the burden of this harmful and limited source of energy
is a giant step in saving our planet from self-destruction.
