For Dr. Alex Green of Green Liquid and Gas Technologies, finding the most efficient use of fuel has become his life’s mission. In the past, it was lifesaving.
Serving in the Army Air Force in World War II, Green helped develop a system to maximize fuel efficiency for the B-29 bombers used in long over-water bombing runs in the Pacific, bringing planes back safely. Although trained in physics, by the 1970’s Green’s interests shifted to finding energy alternatives to oil.
Green has spent 48 years in Gainesville – partly as a University of Florida professor and researcher – and spent the majority of those years developing safe, useful fuels from biomass and solid waste. In 1986, he was a part of a conference hosted in Gainesville about techniques to use a city’s garbage as an environmentally sound fuel. He worked with Gainesville Regional Utility to help expand its energy portfolio to include alternative fuels and biomass.
In the 1990s, Dr. Green first heard of small micro-turbine generators and decided that with the technology, he could create his own small-scale utility. While some biomass energy systems require direct combustion of material, Green said the Green Pyrolyzer Gasifier (GPG) uses advanced thermal techniques that reduce emissions and could power a jet engine, not just boilers.
Green’s generator has drawn a lot of interest in the past, from private investors to the Army and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which was developing a system to use waste from soldiers’ Meals Ready to Eat to fuel the mess halls of battalions stationed in foreign countries.
The GPG can use a wide range of organic waste as fuel, from sawdust or wood chips to sewage sludge to horse manure. Currently, Green Liquid and Gas plans to take custom orders and tailor each generator to a client’s specific waste and energy requirements. This way, companies will be able to reduce the cost of hauling waste and reduce the cost of powering their business. While biomass fuels are carbon neutral by definition, Green’s system provides a way for companies to create value from negative-value materials like the trash they throw out every day.
Check out TV-20’s Innovation Spotlight on the Green Pyrolyzer Gasifier.
To Green, improving fuel efficiency and safety is as important for the nation as it was in World War II. He believes that if technology like the GPG catches on, it could meet nearly 25 percent of the energy needs of the United States, while also diverting a significant amount of solid waste from our waste stream. In addition to these environmental and economic benefits, the process also creates a bio-charcoal that can increase the fertility of soil for hundreds of years.
Through the Cade Prize the company will work to finish scaling up the design of a larger generator to meet the needs of customers. Green – who is approaching his 92nd birthday – also hopes to attract a new CEO who is focused on manufacturing, engineering and clean energy technologies to take over the company he has built with the help of his son, daughter and son-in-law.
To find out more about the Cade Prize, visit CadeMuseum.org and keep an eye on the blog for more on the Cade Prize Sweet 16.
