Lockheed Martin has installed a bioenergy plant at an aircraft factory in New York that turns discarded wood chips into energy to produce 250KW of power.
Bioenergy facilities provide a way to generate clean energy and eliminate waste that normally builds up in landfills.
Reusing waste is no new idea. The whole green revolution is about recycling most if not all waste produced by cities. In fact, waste-to-energy plants are already being constructed in certain parts of the world like Denmark and Sweden.
Lockheed Martin has now installed a bioenergy plant at their Owego, New York aircraft factory to power manufacturing with human waste.
The company partnered with Concord Blue, creating a plant that can provide 250 kilowatts of power. It does this by turning waste into gas and using that for power.
First, waste material is collected and recyclables like metal and plastics are removed. The facility then dries out and heats up biowaste.
At a certain temperature, the solid waste becomes a gas, which then transforms into synthetic gas. This is then used to fuel a combustion engine that produces electricity, or can help produce hydrogen and biofuels.