The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Mo. Plant Makes Oil From Turkey Offal

May 24, 6:10 PM (ET)

By MARGARET STAFFORD

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Someday, if the hopes and dreams of investors in a small plant in southwest Missouri come true, Americans may be using oil derived from what is left of a turkey after it has gone through a rendering plant.

The blood, guts, skin, feathers and bones, called turkey offal, are being converted into oil at the plant in Carthage, about 50 miles west of Springfield. Owners of the plant announced this week that they have begun selling between 100 and 200 barrels of the oil per day.

The plant is operated by Renewable Environmental Solutions, based in Downer's Grove, Ill., which is a joint venture of ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) and Changing World Technologies, Inc.

A method called Thermal Conversion Process converts the offal from turkeys at a nearby Butterball plant into oil, fatty acids, natural gas, minerals and carbon.

The process can convert any carbon-based form, essentially by speeding up the method the earth uses to break down dead plants and animals into petroleum hydrocarbons. Using specific heat, pressure and water, the feedstock's long molecular chains are broken into gas that is recycled to run the plant, water that is returned to municipal water streams and the other products that are sold.

The advantages of the process are significant, according to Brian Appel, chairman and chief executive officer of Changing World Technologies.

He said it uses far less energy than other waste-to-energy products, creates fewer toxic emissions and destroys most pathogens in the feedstocks, while creating environmentally friendly fuels and fertilizers.

If the process becomes widely accepted, it would reduce the mountains of animal waste accumulating in the world, help reduce global warming and prove that...(Full Story)