There’s a good and interesting global trend that may help our byproduct crisis. It is potentially a solution of sorts for our industry. The rub, of course, is cost. However, in my view we don’t have too many other choices. I know, sometimes my ideas and conclusions are a stretch. But that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with reaching.

What do desalination, pyrolysis, biomethane, and geothermal have in common? All of these are processes that convert liquids, gases, or solid materials into useful substances that help reduce shortages of resources or reduce dependence on fossil energy. All of these can potentially help our packaging industry become more sustainable.

is a process that provides a solution for the dwindling supply of drinkable water and fresh water that is needed to make materials for package manufacturing. The unprocessed salt water is abundant.

Geothermal energy can be harvested and utilizes an innovative process that reduces our dependence on fossil energy. It is abundant.

Pyrolysis takes non-recyclable byproduct and converts it into useful energy as an alternative to fossil energy. The raw material is abundant.

Biomethane is a term applied to reprocessed methane. Processed biomethane converts methane, a gas that is 80 times stronger and more noxious than CO2, into a useful gas that can be converted into energy. It is abundant.

of the above processes convert abundant supply, currently unusable, into useful and usable forms that can improve supply and eliminate landfill and/or landfill byproduct. The one sticky wicket is cost. But think about this: we’re running out of fresh water. Landfills are not sustainable. Fossil energy causes environmental problems.

is really quite simple. We’re taking a plentiful resource, at least at present, and removing salt and other impurities and making clear, drinkable water, which is needed all over the world, not just here in the US. The most common method of converting salt water to drinkable water is “reverse osmosis,” which puts salt water under pressure to filter out salt and other impure materials. 

The problem, and the reason we don’t have more desalination plants, is the amount of energy needed to remove the contaminants. High energy means $$$$$$$$. Energy represents 40% of the entire cost of desalination. And, like nuclear, desalination generates byproduct in the form of brine, salt, and other minerals. 

The current procedure is to dump the byproduct back into the sea, which creates acidification, which affects marine life. Like everything, solutions develop other problems.

However, the energy issue can be solved by using renewable wind energy, and the salt byproduct can actually be converted into table salt. Voila! Issues solved. (Just recently scientists and engineers have developed small household units that run with low energy usage and don’t generate any byproduct. In this case, fresh water shortage/demand has created a solution.)

Harvesting geothermal energy is another opportunity to reduce dependence on fossils, taking an abundant resource that will make us more sustainable. Most of you are familiar with hot springs, like the hot springs in Yellowstone National Park. That’s nothing more than geothermal energy that is near the surface of the earth and escapes into the environment. 

This same kind of energy is all over the world, except in most cases it is deep, deep down in the earth. And historically that has been the real issue: how do we find it? Once we find it, how do we extract it (harvest it, so to speak)?

Geothermal energy “got a shot in the arm,” courtesy of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) introduced by President Biden and passed by Congress. Some college campuses and small cities like Boise, ID, are using funds from the IRA to cover installation costs of direct-use geothermal heating systems. 

In these cases geothermal energy was close to the surface of the earth and converting it into useful energy was relatively inexpensive. The dilemma is trying to figure out how to capture the deep geothermal energy. We know how to frack, but fracking in my view is not the answer because it uses water and chemicals to break through layers of rock. Fracking misses the whole purpose of capturing geothermal energy. Right now, capturing geothermal energy, like desalination, is not sustainable or economically feasible. 

“Despite the captivating technology, geothermal energy remains a minor character in the grand climate drama.” (Sierra)

I’ve written about pyrolysis in earlier columns, so I’ll skip right to the other process: biomethane.

While there have been countless articles written about the dangers of methane, it is only recently that industry has begun to capture and convert methane into a useful product. First, what is biomethane? It is a “clean form of biogas that is 98% methane.” It is also known as “green gas.” Some people use the term renewable natural gas (RNG). I like to use the word biomethane because it refers to capturing a gas that heretofore escaped into the environment and contributed to causing climate change. 

Just to confuse you more, “biogas is a mixture of 65% methane and 40% carbon dioxide.”  You can convert biogas to biotherm by extracting the CO2.

Biomethane’s benefits include:

• Net zero emissions
• Interchangeability with existing natural gas usage
• Ability to capture methane emissions from other processes such as landfill and manure production
• Potential economic opportunity for regional areas
• Generation of skilled jobs in planning, engineering, operating and maintenance of biogas and biomethane plants.

The point that jumps out to me when we talk about biomethane is capturing what used to be released into the environment. We’re taking a harmful byproduct and converting it into a useful resource that reduces greenhouse gas and our dependence on fossil energy.

Each one of these processes – desalination, geothermal recovery, pyrolysis, and biomethane harvesting – can contribute to reducing shortages and/or byproduct discharge. I believe all of us in packaging and product identification have a responsibility to reduce, reuse, and innovate in every aspect of our business and personal lives.
Another Letter from the Earth

Calvin Frost is chairman of Channeled Resources Group, headquartered in Chicago, the parent company of Maratech International and GMC Coating. His email address is [email protected].