skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

What Americans Flush Could End Up in Their Fuel Tanks

play audio
Play

Friday, December 23, 2016   

RICHLAND, Wash. - Research at a Washington state lab is proving not everything flushed down the toilet is waste.

Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have created an energy- and cost-effective method for turning sewage into biocrude oil. The process mirrors the geological conditions that create fossil fuels. Waste is subjected to high temperatures and pressures, dissolving biomass in the waste into a crude oil product. The crude oil then can be refined for blending in jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline.

"Say with sewage sludge, the scale would be a city, let's say, of a million people or 2 million people, the amount of transportation fuel that could be generated would equal roughly the same amount of fuel that is required to run the same city's fleet of vehicles," said Justin Billings, an engineer on the research team that has developed the process.

Billings said there isn't enough sewage to run every vehicle in a given city, but could be an integral piece when combined with other renewable-fuels projects to reducing the country's dependence on foreign oil. The process has the added benefit of producing nitrogen and other elements used in fertilizers.

PNNL now is in the process of scaling up the project. The city of Vancouver, British Columbia, is working on a pilot project that could be operational by 2018. The project has another upside: Disposal of waste is a costly issue for cities. In the best-case scenarios, Billings said, waste is sent to sites that turn it into fertilizer.

"It's either shipped in, usually big trucks to the site, or incineration or even some municipalities landfill the stabilized sludge at a cost to the city or municipality," he said.

However, there is a downside. The fuel refined from the biocrude oil burns the same as petroleum-based fuel, carbon dioxide included. But the source for the fuel is large. Wastewater treatment plants across the country treat about 34 billion gallons of sewage every day. According to PNNL, that amount could produce 30 million barrels of oil per year.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021