U.S. Military Tests Trash-to-Fuel Technology

June 23, 2008

Civilians aren’t the only ones looking for a more sustainable path; the U.S. military has been investigating options for everything from eliminating trash to cutting fuel consumption. Considering that the military’s active duty members number more than 1.4 million -- not counting those members of the military community considered reserve personnel or civilians -- even a relatively small effort is guaranteed to have far-reaching implications.

The military's most recent sustainability measure is the implementation of TGER, pronounced “tiger.” In March, the U.S. military shipped trash-to-fuel generators, or Tactical Garbage to Energy Refineries, to Iraq. Since then, they’ve undergone increasingly intensive testing, which officially ends in August. The testing is going well, and members of the military are planning to deploy the generators to smaller camps and are considering them for use in disaster relief sites.

The TGER contends with two of the military’s key sustainability issues -- fuel consumption and trash -- simultaneously. The amount of fuel the military goes through in even a single day is astronomical and the standard operating procedure for disposal has been incineration. Incineration actually consumes a significant amount of fuel, as well as eating up man hours and producing some unfortunate emissions. The TGER takes that trash and converts it into fuel through a variety of procedures.

If you could take a walking tour through the TGER, you would start at a chute where trash is dumped. Wet and dry wastes are separated and dealt with in different manners. Enzymes are introduced into the wet waste, converting it into hydrous ethanol. The dry trash is crushed, pelletized and gasified. The synthetic gas produced from the dry trash fuels the generator, as well, although it needs about one gallon of diesel fuel per hour to keep things going.

Some drawbacks do remain in the technology — a six-hour warm up period tops the list — but testers are reporting 90 percent efficiency, an absolutely incredible figure. The military’s goal is eventually to improve trash-to-fuel generators so that 100% of its waste will go into one end of the generator while electricity comes out the other. I don’t think the civilian world would object to such technology, either.

Looking at the tactical situation in Iraq, I think these generators make more sense than anyone can guess. Whether you agree that U.S. troops should be in Iraq, it’s clear that one of the most dangerous tasks they have is transporting fuel, mostly for their own use. Fuel trucks and caravans are routinely targeted. Any way to limit the fuel needing transport — such as generating it on site — is practically guaranteed to save lives, as well as spare the environment.

Photo by AKinKorea