Waste can be microwaved for biofuel applications

At the British Science Festival in Bradford, Professor James Clark of the University of York has revealed how highly-focused microwaves can be used to extract useful chemical compounds from organic waste; a move that would go a significant way to solving the huge issue of global waste.

Professor Clark explains how orange peel can be processed in this manner: "You dice the peel, put it into a microwave field, focus that microwave field as you would do with a domestic microwave, but at a much higher power. The microwaves activate the cellulose, triggering the release of a lot of chemicals."

Orange peel waste, with this new technology, could be used to make many of the materials and chemicals that we currently rely on oil for, used in materials and biofuel applications. The Orange Peel Exploitation Company (OPEC) hope that this process will revolutionise orange juice production in Brazil, where currently 50% of the fruit is wasted during production. The new technique is also extremely effective on paper and card – anything containing cellulose - and it is probable that several types of waste could be treated at the same time and still produce valuable chemicals. The team of international scientists involved in the project hope that this new process will eventually be used on an industrial scale. They estimate that a machine costing around £1 million would be able to process around six tonnes of food waste per hour.

A demonstration facility is being built in York later this year. The size will be limited by the high energy levels needed for the correct power, but the scientists involved in the project hope that in the future they will be able to produce microwaves of varying different sizes.

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Published: Friday, 16th September 2011 by Ellen Haggan