08-15-2008, 10:02 AM
Well, here's a thought or two I'll probably get hammered on, but what the heck.
The first is an observation that, at least the Hilo side of this island, needs more mulch like the ocean needs more water.
The second is that when "Green Waste" decomposes it releases mostly Carbon Monoxide (CO), a really serious Green House Gas, whereas if it is burned in a controlled manner it will emit mostly Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Yes, CO2 is also a Green House Gas, but it's about 1/12 as damaging as CO.
If we burn Green Waste and make electricity with it we displace oil that we would otherwise burn to make the same electricity.
So, assuming we need to make electricity, these are the options:
Don't burn Green Waste and we get one unit of CO released into the environment from the Green Waste decomposing and one unit of CO2 released from the combustion of oil used to make the electricity.
Do burn Green Waste and we get one unit of CO2 released from burning Green Waste and no CO or CO2 from burning oil to make the same amount of electricity. AND, the CO2 we do emit from the controlled combustion of Green Waste is a small fraction as damaging as the CO tat is released by mulching it instead.
The bottom line is this, as long as we are burning any oil it is a no-brainer that we should displace as much of that oil as possible by burning Green Waste in its place.
Of course burning Green Waste to make electricity doesn't fit the popular definition of "recycling" so sadly, some folks get apoplectic at the suggestion of burning Green Waste instead of mulching it.
The first is an observation that, at least the Hilo side of this island, needs more mulch like the ocean needs more water.
The second is that when "Green Waste" decomposes it releases mostly Carbon Monoxide (CO), a really serious Green House Gas, whereas if it is burned in a controlled manner it will emit mostly Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Yes, CO2 is also a Green House Gas, but it's about 1/12 as damaging as CO.
If we burn Green Waste and make electricity with it we displace oil that we would otherwise burn to make the same electricity.
So, assuming we need to make electricity, these are the options:
Don't burn Green Waste and we get one unit of CO released into the environment from the Green Waste decomposing and one unit of CO2 released from the combustion of oil used to make the electricity.
Do burn Green Waste and we get one unit of CO2 released from burning Green Waste and no CO or CO2 from burning oil to make the same amount of electricity. AND, the CO2 we do emit from the controlled combustion of Green Waste is a small fraction as damaging as the CO tat is released by mulching it instead.
The bottom line is this, as long as we are burning any oil it is a no-brainer that we should displace as much of that oil as possible by burning Green Waste in its place.
Of course burning Green Waste to make electricity doesn't fit the popular definition of "recycling" so sadly, some folks get apoplectic at the suggestion of burning Green Waste instead of mulching it.