• October 26, 2012
• By Benedict Harcourt | Renewable resource enthusiast

Green technology is developing. Not only would the economy become greener but thousands of jobs would also have been created from enterprising individuals all over the United Kingdom in the creation, science, and development let alone the installation of all technologies.

One of the key green technologies is gasification technology. For more than one hundred years, it has been a natural way of burning (combusting) waste, whether it be from household or commercial activities, to produce syngas. Syngas allows the breakdown of hydrocarbons to produce an electrical output, is used to power hydrogen fuel cells, a vital power source in the production of electric and multiple-fueled vehicles.

Other alternatives such as wind and solar farms are often well talked about as "better" green technologies. There are many positives and problems of each mentioned on many forums, notably this one. But the reality is that with wind and solar come cost, efficiency, building regulations and impact on quality of life, especially in the countryside. Solar and wind farms are negativity visualized in our countryside, like national parks.

So the alternative is in the towns and cities, which then creates problems with the residents living there. So many sites, such as the wind farm in Great Yarmouth, England, have been built out to sea. The great benefit of gasification technology is just how efficient it can be, with one plant burning tonnes and tonnes of rubbish every day to produce electrical output for us all to use.

The green sector still running a trade surplus in the U.K. with more than a million people employed in some small sector within. The industry alone burning some of the 250 tonnes of rubbish, it really is a very effective green technology and one that should be embraced worldwide, rather than simply in the 26 countries that currently use it.

Many countries site health and safety assessment, fearing an "accident" such as a leak of syngas into the atmosphere, the byproducts produced and burnt, and reaction of people living near a reactor as reasons opposed to new combustion chambers. But if the political will can be gathered, there is no reason at all in my opinion that thousands more combustion chambers should be built around the world.

Benedict Harcourt is a renewable resources enthusiast who has written in this area for a number of online publications. Harcourt particularly specializes in alternative energy resources.

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