Green waste to Eco-Carbon

An Overview of the Eco-Carbons Phenomenon

Paul Wildman

Today with the advent of the ‘carbon tax’ and black as the new green through carbon sequestration and carbon farming initiatives, both the Government and environmentalists are stressing the need to develop technologies which are environmentally friendly and less reliant on fossil fuels, deforestation and mining operations. Sustainable and replenishable projects are being vigorously sought and investments are increasing into this particular area.

The Greenhouse effect, salinity, and the high application of fertilisers and toxic chemicals have led to numerous restrictions beings imposed on manufacturers and the agricultural and horticultural industries. It therefore makes sense to establish a process which can utilise rejected waste materials (all being replenishable) and convert them into numerous and diverse industrial applications minus the high input of energy. This will also give considerable added value to producer’s raw materials.

Eco-carbons Pty Ltd has a process which meets all the criteria mentioned. It is environmentally friendly, providing non-toxic products which are safe to handle and utilise for numerous industrial needs. These include carbon (charcoal) – an essential element which has a ready market demand in Australasia.

The raw materials are in plentiful supply and are readily accessible. These include waste/reject cereal grains, nuts and shells, dust and husks. The process entails producing beads to any size, shape and bulk density, and carbonising (burning) them in controlled conditions. The kiln used recycles the gases to generate energy to sustain the kiln’s temperatures. The kiln becomes 70% self-sustaining!¹

Green Waste to charcoal a hot tip for our future: One Gold Coast company wants to take turning trash into treasure to a whole new level.

From the Gold Coast Sun Newspaper 25-11-2011 Turn This Town Around section

Bundall-based Eco Carbons is looking to turn plants and other green waste into environmental friendly fuel sources including barbecue beads and charcoal. Chief Executive Mike Neal said the process would help the environment and clear space at Gold Coast tips.

‘There is 70000 tonnes of green waste just here on the Gold Coast each year and no one knows what to do with it. We can use wood waste, leaves sugar cane anything with is green we can carbonise it and we can even carbonise manure. At the moment it is in the ‘to hard basket’ (for the council) and I’m afraid and unfortunately there are no rules and regulations’.

Mr Neal said ‘products made through the carbonisation process would also be cost competitive. For instance with fuel beads you now pay about $1.50 per kilogram- we could produce that at a quarter of the price using other raw materials’ he said.

Mr Neal also indicated that the next step was convincing council to let the company set up a plant at one of the Gold Coast tips. ‘We could set up at Sundown Tip or the new Reedy Creek site and put up carbonisation unit it here an treat the green waste’. This would reduce the volume of green waste at tips plus there would be less methane gas emissions’

Eco Carbon's CEO Mike Neal (left) and CTO Ron Davis have new ways to dispose of green waste

Career opportunities

Eco Carbons is instrumental in R&D on Eco-Carbons and other low cost D IY technologies which are proven – up to promote to the marketplace, simple to manufacture and promote. No specific skills are required just the desire to learn, some basic ingenuity and practicality can help earn attractive income.

The projects involve the safe conversion of organic green wastes into end-products readily identifiable in the market place.

Raw materials at little cost!

These are all readily available e.g. the production of eco-charcoals that have many applications (see below), are safe to handle, competitively priced and generate in their production the following associated products:

1. Solid fuels for heating and cooking
2. Gases for power generation inc. mobility cars powered by char-gas in the 1930’s depression – Ford even had a factory fitted gas generator
3. Charcoal for food additive and Carbon filters for water, air purification and medicine
4. ‘Ecocarbon’ Non- toxic pesticide
5. Insulation and Fire retardants
6. Lightweight concrete aggregate – ‘Ecocrete’
7. Soundproofing and insulation (which is also a natural fire retardant)
8. Charcoal for art work – great impact in Japan in art and sculpture for centuries
9. Oil spill absorbers
10. Soil improvers – it’s like having a coral reef in your garden or as it’s called in the fish world FAD – Fish Aggregating Device whereby the ‘Ecochar’ acts as a FAD for bacterial and microbes which find a home in the billions of pores in the carbon and thus provide nutrients for larger bugs and ultimately worms and plants – which we can then eat.

The materials are in abundance sustainable and replenishable – organic green wastes from home gardens, tree lopping and lawn mowing that until now had no value, most of which go to landfills polluting the environment. The end products (see list in read above) can command high added values from between $400 — $4000 plus per tonne!

Here is an opportunity to become involved working full or part time – form a community based project with neighbours and schools and reap the awards all from wastes!! Please contact Ecocarbon if you wish to be involved.

Eco-carbon: http://ecocarbons.com/ . CEO: Mike Neal . Office address: 9th Floor Seabank Building, 12-14 Marine Parade, Southport Qld 4215, Australia. Postal address: LMB 12, Southport Qld 4215, Australia. Phone Nos: (9-5 hrs w/days). International: +61-7 55910351; National: 07-55910351. Mobile: 0414980402 – 24 hrs. Email:ecocarb@onthenet.com.au

1 Paraphrased from http://ecocarbons.com/.