Last years Gulf Oil Spill was catastrophic and had a disastrous impact on the delicate ecosystem. With a variety of containment systems being incorporated to reduce the impact of the spill, the question remains that what happened to all those plastic absorbent booms that were used to soak up oil from the surface. While most believe that the booms could be burned to produced energy, companies such as General Motors have a different opinion.
GM and its partners are taking a different approach by devising a new process to recycle oil booms into parts that can be used in the companys extended range electric vehicle Chevy Volt. The booms could provide enough raw materials for the Volts air-deflecting baffles for one production year. According to General Motors, the recycling program will make use of 227 miles of materials and save about 212,500 pounds of waste from the landfill.The process involves spinning the oil-soaked booms in a centrifuge to remove oil and then process the remaining material into air deflectors that surround the vehicles radiator.
Via: Earth 911
