Fill your car up with… pcs

Illstrated by Priya Khatri

Every time I have to fuel my car I am so embarassed! Not only because fuel is very expensive, not only because the men working at the gas stations are always very excited since they don’t expect to see a girl coming out from the car.
I just cannot believe that in spite of all the technology available today we have not found yet a solution to fuel cars without using polluting materials.

Scientists in Romania and Turkey are seeking ways to remove toxic materials from electronics so these scrap materials can be safely recycled and… junk computers could fuel cars! The study is to be published on May 21 on the journal Energy & Fuels.

“Nothing is created. Nothing is destroyed. Everything is transformed” was the most surprising concept I’ve ever studied at school.
(It has been reformulated by Einstein but it was an old Lavoisier’s idea).

By transforming bits and pieces of printed circuit boards from jettisoned computers into clean raw materials we could eliminated two problems at once: fuel and trash.

As you can easily understand “electronic waste” is the fastest growing part of our waste stream, ‘cause our electronic friends are the firsts to become dated.
I’m sure it will not be easy, and that the processes of recycling will be long and complicated, but imagine you are at the gas station.
Fill her up with pcs please!

Filed Under Environment, Modern Life, Research, Technology