Fueling our dreams…with Turkey Guts?

When involved with the study of the future, it is important to separate crazy new technologies and trends that are real from the crazy new technologies that are really hoaxes. So, the other night down at George Washington University, I was discussing renewable energy source with colleagues, and we came upon the topic of turkey guts. I mentioned that I heard about a new plant that used turkey parts as the feedstock, and through “thermal depolymerization” was producing crude petroleum. This could be a harbinger of many interesting new techniques to help us break our toxic addiction to oil.

Yes, this sounds weird on its face. In fact, one of my colleagues suggested that it may have even been a spoofed website, like those people who make fake bank websites to defraud you of your credit card number. Well, to defend my futurist honor, I had to check.

Well, say hello to Changing World Technologies and its CEO Brian S. Appel. They are promising “viable solutions to current environmental problems and answering the need for cost effective energy.” And yes folks, that means turning turkey guts into fuel.

I never said the future was pretty.

Yes, at their plant in Carthage, Missouri, they are able to convert this gruesome feedstock into the equivalent of Texas Tea, producing up to 500 barrels of oil a day out of the 200 tons of material that gets thrown out from a nearby poultry processing plant. Moreover, the company has plans to open more of these plants. Check out more information at the February edition of GeoTimes.

I must put in, for the sake of balance and my own curiosity, that a chemist has come forward and expressed his doubt, saying its like all the other snake oil. Give it a look, but it seems like a lot of people are being “fooled.” This looks like a might be a harbinger of some good stuff to come.

Forget Saudi oil, we’ve got the Oscar Meyer Oil Cartel!