Plastic shopping bags, an abundant source of litter on land and at sea, can be converted into diesel, natural gas and other useful petroleum products, researchers report.

The conversion produces significantly more energy than it requires and results in transportation fuels – diesel, for example – that can be blended with existing ultra-low-sulfur diesels and biodiesels. Other products, such as natural gas, naphtha (a solvent), gasoline, waxes and lubricating oils such as engine oil and hydraulic oil also can be obtained from shopping bags.

A report of the new study appears in the journal Fuel Processing Technology.

There are other advantages to the approach, which involves heating the bags in an oxygen-free chamber, a process called pyrolysis, said Brajendra Kumar Sharma, a senior research scientist at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center who led the research. The ISTC is a division of the Prairie Research Instituteat the University of Illinois.

“You can get only 50 to 55 percent fuel from the distillation of petroleum crude oil,” Sharma said. “But since this plastic is made from petroleum in the first place, we can recover almost 80 percent fuel from it through distillation.”

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The list reveals which companies around the world are doing the most to combat climate change. It has 187 companies from across the globe that illustrate that a low-carbon future does not mean low profit.

The Indian companies that made it to the list — CDP Climate Performance Leadership Index 2014 — are: Essar Oil, Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro.

“Awarded an ‘A’ grade for their performance, they (the companies in the list) earn a position on the first global ranking of corporate efforts to mitigate climate change”, said the organization in a statement while releasing the report comprising the names of the companies and the parameters\methodology followed on Wednesday.

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The Earth Care Awards is unique and is aimed at highlighting action of direct relevance to the countries in the SAARC region to tackle challenges posed by climate change. The award is for excellence in climate change mitigation and adaptation. This is in response to the recently growing consciousness about issues associated with climate change and that it is important to identify and foster locally evolved options to reduce emissions, approaches to protect land and water resources and other innovations for reducing impacts, emphasizing appropriate environmental action. The present edition of the award will focus on three important areas, signifying action by industries, collaborative action by industry and community and by individuals covering a wide range of stakeholders. The awards invite applications across its categories from countries in South Asian Region – India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Click Here for more details and the application form

We bring to you the third issue of our bimonthly e-bulletin Green Alert, July-August 2014, with the latest news in the field of ecofriendly products and other environmental matters. Read about car parts made of tomatoes and how people purchase products with environmental considerations in mind.

Best wishes

CERC-ENVIS Team

GA – JA2014