When we talk about sustainable electricity generation, perhaps the very last thing that comes to our mind is food. But, the next time you guiltily scrap off your plate over the dustbin, remember that all of such discarded stuff can actually help in producing electricity. How so? Well, designers from a green technology based company called SeaB have ingeniously contrived shipping container like systems, in which your leftover food can be filled. And, Voila! After a whirlwind of processing through various components of internal circuitry, the end result is ‘clean’ electricity.
Christened aptly as ‘MuckBusters’, these container mechanisms could help in converting around half a ton of food to a sufficient magnitude of power required for running of 150 computers. Of course, the procedure is not all that fantastical, where your uneaten food items magically turn into usable electricity. The technical side of affairs entails the natural processing of the food by bacteria. This process of biological ‘chewing’ results in emanation of gases, which the machine can automatically filter for deriving of methane. This internal stream of methane is then passed through a heat and power system for generation of electricity.
Now, beyond the uniqueness of its functionality, there is clear practical side to this sustainable scope. According to the company, food is the largest single source of waste in California at 15.5 percent, which amounts to a whopping 6 million tons of food being dumped annually by Californians. In fact, figures show that the discarded food from San Francisco alone could account for clean electricity for 22,000 households!
So, at the end of the day, the whole fascinating ambit presents an alternative mode to waste management that not only helps in segregating waste, but also makes sure that some part of it is utilized for our long term sustenance.
Via: CNet
