Reply #7: It smells like a rendering plant, which it may replace.

[amandabeech]

Disposing of animal carcasses is never pleasant.

This technology produces different products than rendering. Instead of basics for chemicals, waxes and soaps, and protein meal, it produces carbon, some diesel, ammonia and a calcium-heavy fertilizer. The technology also uses the blood of the animals, which rendering generally does not.

CWT also claims that the combination of heat and pressure breaks up carbon-containing molecules into either constituent elements or less harmful substances, hence the interest in Europe where recycling the protein from animal carcasses is forbidden. Frankly, I was surprised that it started with turkeys instead of cattle.

I see this as a recycling technology rather than an oil-generating technology. I am particularly interested in its use for extracting phosphorus from waste streams. U.S. phosphorus deposits are only expected to last another 75 years and phosphorus is a key fertilizer component. In 75 years, we may no longer have the means to transport large amounts of phosphorus from Morocco or the Middle East to our shores.