Can Coal Technology Save the Whales... Again?
Author: Joe Witherspoon P.E., CTO and Co-Founder of Frontieras North America
Addressing and solving global problems requires innovation. It is with this thought in mind that I illustrate for you how innovation changes an industry, and if done holistically, cascades into other ancillary markets with positive impact.
Let us take a moment to remember that it was not that long ago that the whale population was in rapid decline as they were slaughtered for their oil. It is hard to imagine that in today’s modern age, whales are still captured and slaughtered in large volumes to extract their oil, which is then used for lighting, heating, lubrication, and other industrial purposes (processing of textiles and rope, for example). To put this into perspective, in 1846, annual whaling produced 4-5 million gallons of sperm oil, 6-10 million gallons of train oil, and 1.6-5.6 million pounds of bone. In fact, if it wasn’t for the innovation of Canada’s Abraham Gesner, who discovered a process to extract kerosene from coal in 1861, whales would have been extinct before the 1900s.
Gesner’s innovation is just one example of how technological innovation can address a global demand and simultaneously improve an environmental issue. While the world has changed, we continue to look for innovation in the form of technology and processes that allow our society to advance, address the sins of the past and achieve the types of positive success that Gesner attained.
It is with this holistic thought of change that I imagined how Frontieras’ FASForm™ process will positively impact society. Frontieras’introduction of FASForm will deliver an abundance of available and affordable energy for multiple industries, as well to underdeveloped countries that are struggling with an energy shortage. FASForm’s unique, closed-loop process breaks down and separates elements to their most basic form. Why is this important? Because Frontieras is not limited to the use of hydrocarbons in the form of coal as its only feedstock, allowing it to generate energy from multiple sources.
Frontieras, understanding the value FASForm will have on the energy sector, has plans to construct and operate multiple plants across the 5 continents it has patents within. Because of its unique architecture, Frontieras’ FASForm was designed to process multiple feedstocks - including waste plastics. With a focus on sustainability, FASForm has the capability to process waste plastics, using coal as a substrate. This ingenuity is expected to allow Frontieras to process two different feedstocks and extract viable energy yields in the form of gas, liquid and solid through one process and at one site. This provides several beneficial effects. First, the waste plastic materials break down into higher-value liquid hydrocarbon components; namely, naphtha (gasoline), kerosene and diesel. These liquid fuels are practical and critical forms of energy. Second, any residual carbon from the plastic materials remains with the solid carbon product as pure carbon which enhances the quality of Frontieras’ FASCarbon™. It is important to note that recycle and/or reuse of plastics occurs only once and only for certain polymers, such as polyester and nylon. After that, the ultimate disposition is the landfill. This point brings us to the third main benefit: the complete elimination of the waste plastics that would otherwise be buried indefinitely in landfills.
Frontieras FASForm’s closed loop process illustrates how innovation delivers valuable energy, but also impacts the reuse of the chemical potential energy within waste plastics. First introduced in 1907, plastics found their footing in the commercial and industrial space in the 1950s and began to explode globally, ramping up around 200x over the next 70 years. Plastic is cheap, versatile, lightweight, and has several uses including to package our food and water effectively and safely. While plastics have helped move society forward tremendously, they have also become a major environmental impact on our landmasses and in our oceans. Below are some basic facts surrounding the proliferation of plastics:
Globally, around 350-400 million tons of plastic waste is being generated yearly – that number continues to climb about 9% annually.
To date, there are about 8.3 billion tons of waste plastic that have been generated - and about 76% of that is trash.
Of that amount, about 75-80% ends up mismanaged in landfills or the environment. The results of this have been catastrophic for both people and the environment.
EPA statistics on plastic waste management, 1960-2018. (Source)
Frontieras’ recently announced plant (located in West Virginia) will incorporate waste plastic as a feedstock for the process. Future FASForm plants will be used to help reform useable waste plastic back into a viable energy source, eliminating the gluttony of plastic-laden landfills.
Frontieras’ delivery of FASForm embodies theenergy industry’s movement towards innovative clean technologies. Created 5 years ago, the term "clean" technologies embrace a diverse range of products, services, and processes that are inherently designed to provide superior performance at lower costs, greatly reduce or eliminate environmental impacts and, in doing so, improve quality of life. FASForm’s ability to process waste plastics, capture and repurpose hydrogen within its plants, as well as break down hydrocarbons to pure energy in the form of solids, liquids, and gases illustrates how Frontieras embodies the clean technology movement. As an emerging leader in the energy technology space, Frontieras is poised to change the way the world both looks at and uses energy.
Today's world is better because of innovation. Innovation is what propels us forward - it allows people to live healthier, longer lives, and to become more productive than ever before in history. We need only examine the past to understand how the future will unfold. Fixation on doom and gloom can cause environmentalists to forget that the negative consequences of industrialization are insignificant compared to the positive developments of the industrial age. Similar to Canada’s Abraham Gesner’s delivery of kerosene, saving the whales from becoming extinct, we firmly believe that Frontieras will harness the efficiencies of FASForm to save our planet from drowning in a sea of waste plastics.
