Cry Me a Biofuel
Everyone knows that onions can produce tears. But do you know that they can also produce energy? That’s the word from Steve Gill of Gill Onions, who has been using onion waste to run the refrigerators and lights at his family’s processing plant in Oxnard, California.
Prior to converting onions to energy, the company either spread the onion waste as fertilizer over their fields throughout California or sold it as cattle feed. Both these options posed a hazard not only to the atmosphere but also the groundwater.
These days at Gills Onions, the fermented onion juice is converted to methane and burned in the two on-site fuels cells, saving the company around $1.4 million in electricity and disposal costs.
And this is only the beginning of Gill Onion’s sustainability aspirations. Their aim is to turn the plant into a zero-waste facility through actions such as recycling employees’ lunch leftovers and revamping packaging.
Image: Darwin Bell
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Tons of Trash: Tour America’s Top 10 Biggest Landfills
XHello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic. Beyond the smell and decay,
Stimulus Bill Paves the Way for a Greener Future
XHello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic. A nearly $800 billion stimulus
Seasonal Eating: Ode to the Leek
XHello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic. The Welsh wear them in
Preserve What We've Got with Recycled Plastic Products
XHello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic. We have to admit it:
|
Bookmark |
1 Comment
July 22nd, 2009 at 10:06 am
I knew they had magic powers!
Welcome! The comment box is all yours to say what you like. Just make sure you use a real name, not a site or company, so you don't get sent to the spam bin. (That makes us sad.)