http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532 Stan Ellis of Global Mastics doesn't give too many interviews. Luckily I got one on my personal blog when he ran for assembly. Now I have another one, this time for ABC23, and it's all about sludge. I remembered our initial interview where Ellis mentioned he had ideas about how sludge could be&nbsp;converted into usable energy. I ran into him at Buck's birthday bash. Measure E had just been overturned. We said hello and started talking sludge. He wore his big cowboy hat and looked like he'd be better off on a horse than talking to a city slicker like me. A friendly conversation quickly turned into a larger exploration on the topic of sludge profitized through energy conversion and as an asphalt filler. Yes, poopy roads could happen. I left my interview with Ellis thinking, is L.A. sludge really so bad? (Sorry the digital camera video is so small) Read my report: &quot;Is L.A. Sludge Really So Bad?&quot; Stan Ellis of Global Mastics doesn't give too many interviews. Luckily I got one on my personal blog when he ran for assembly. Now I have another one, this time for ABC23, and it's all about sludge. I remembered our initial interview where Ellis mentioned he had ideas about how sludge could be&nbsp;converted into usable energy. I ran into him at Buck's birthday bash. Measure E had just been overturned. We said hello and started talking sludge. He wore his big cowboy hat and looked like he'd be better off on a horse than talking to a city slicker like me. A friendly conversation quickly turned into a larger exploration on the topic of sludge profitized through energy conversion and as an asphalt filler. Yes, poopy roads could happen. I left my interview with Ellis thinking, is L.A. sludge really so bad? (Sorry the digital camera video is so small) Read my report: &quot;Is L.A. Sludge Really So Bad?&quot; en-us Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:47:53 PDT I like to put a little on my breakfast cereal in the morning, or spread a little on my toast.&nbsp; That, a cup of coffee,&nbsp;and a big gulp of fresh Bakersfield air as I step out the door never fails to&nbsp;invigorate me and gives me all I need to face the challenges of the day.&nbsp; http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130389 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130389 I like to put a little on my breakfast cereal in the morning, or spread a little on my toast.&nbsp; That, a cup of coffee,&nbsp;and a big gulp of fresh Bakersfield air as I step out the door never fails to&nbsp;invigorate me and gives me all I need to face the challenges of the day.&nbsp; You can scrape the ash-sludge out of the sky like butter for your bagels. http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130391 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130391 You can scrape the ash-sludge out of the sky like butter for your bagels. <font size="3">Stan Ellis is full of sludge.</font> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130393 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130393 <font size="3">Stan Ellis is full of sludge.</font> &quot;Is L.A. Sludge Really So Bad (As Long As We Don't Put It On Cropland)&quot; would perhaps be a better title.<br /> <br /> There are all sorts of ways to convert &quot;waste&quot; into energy. Not all of them are good. (They used to burn trash at dumps, you know.) At a certain point, the costs of burning outweigh the benefits. http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130395 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130395 &quot;Is L.A. Sludge Really So Bad (As Long As We Don't Put It On Cropland)&quot; would perhaps be a better title.<br /> <br /> There are all sorts of ways to convert &quot;waste&quot; into energy. Not all of them are good. (They used to burn trash at dumps, you know.) At a certain point, the costs of burning outweigh the benefits. <p>"You could solve the sludge problem"...... PROBLEM being the key word here. He spoke of ways to "<strong>deal</strong>" with it.  Why do <strong>we</strong> have to <strong>deal</strong> with their <strong>problem</strong>, GOD knows we have enough <strong>problems of our own</strong>. Lets not forget what this <strong>great stuff</strong> is. Just another way for L.A. to "<strong>dump"</strong> on us.</p> <p>If it is such a <strong>great thing</strong> to <strong>deal</strong> with this stuff, <strong>why don't they "deal" with it</strong> ?</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130396 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130396 <p>"You could solve the sludge problem"...... PROBLEM being the key word here. He spoke of ways to "<strong>deal</strong>" with it.  Why do <strong>we</strong> have to <strong>deal</strong> with their <strong>problem</strong>, GOD knows we have enough <strong>problems of our own</strong>. Lets not forget what this <strong>great stuff</strong> is. Just another way for L.A. to "<strong>dump"</strong> on us.</p> <p>If it is such a <strong>great thing</strong> to <strong>deal</strong> with this stuff, <strong>why don't they "deal" with it</strong> ?</p> <p>Gsisola: Ah, but if you can turn it into profit then that brings new business to an area plagued with high unemplyment.<br /> <br /> Mattloch: Here we're talking about burning, creating energy with a byproduct of ash. The ash could be saved and converted into a product, creating even more profit. I'm no expert, I&nbsp;just spoke with one. </p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130401 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130401 <p>Gsisola: Ah, but if you can turn it into profit then that brings new business to an area plagued with high unemplyment.<br /> <br /> Mattloch: Here we're talking about burning, creating energy with a byproduct of ash. The ash could be saved and converted into a product, creating even more profit. I'm no expert, I&nbsp;just spoke with one. </p> And in the end, it's only an idea, maybe it's just wishful thinking. Gsisola, you have a point. Because in the meantime, the sludge just keeps rolling in, the result of a losing battle...<br /> <br /> In my water wars article it was sort of the reverse. People in the north not wanting their water to run south through the central valley... http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130402 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130402 And in the end, it's only an idea, maybe it's just wishful thinking. Gsisola, you have a point. Because in the meantime, the sludge just keeps rolling in, the result of a losing battle...<br /> <br /> In my water wars article it was sort of the reverse. People in the north not wanting their water to run south through the central valley... <font size="2">*Heavy Metal* not the music , the elements. Toxic fumes,&nbsp;bacteria, *god knows what else*&nbsp;yummy. Maybe all good band names~ but all excellent reasons to say sludge really is that bad.</font> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130403 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130403 <font size="2">*Heavy Metal* not the music , the elements. Toxic fumes,&nbsp;bacteria, *god knows what else*&nbsp;yummy. Maybe all good band names~ but all excellent reasons to say sludge really is that bad.</font> <div><strong>ABC23</strong>, I don't know if you've noticed, but right now the county has kind of a <em>surplus</em> of fly ash. Remember the &quot;moon piles&quot; from a year or so back out by Shafter (or was it Wasco)? There are a few more stashed around the county away from prying eyes, and they're all getting <strong>larger</strong>, not smaller. </div> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130414 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130414 <div><strong>ABC23</strong>, I don't know if you've noticed, but right now the county has kind of a <em>surplus</em> of fly ash. Remember the &quot;moon piles&quot; from a year or so back out by Shafter (or was it Wasco)? There are a few more stashed around the county away from prying eyes, and they're all getting <strong>larger</strong>, not smaller. </div> <p>Mattloch: And that's why I wrote my article, to&nbsp;let people know&nbsp;there are solutions.<br /> <br /> As for those piles. Sounds scary.<br /> <br /> But then there are all kinds of poisons here. Some have read the posts I've written about pesticides and people close to me who are poisoned.<br /> <br /> In fact, I know of a cluster right now. 4 people dead in the last two years. They all grey up a few blocks from each other. They all died from some for of cancer in their late 20s, early 30s.</p> <p>How do you find a solution to that one?<br /> <br /> And how do you get rid of those big piles you're talking about? I don't know. <br /> <br /> Bio suits for everyone!</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130420 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130420 <p>Mattloch: And that's why I wrote my article, to&nbsp;let people know&nbsp;there are solutions.<br /> <br /> As for those piles. Sounds scary.<br /> <br /> But then there are all kinds of poisons here. Some have read the posts I've written about pesticides and people close to me who are poisoned.<br /> <br /> In fact, I know of a cluster right now. 4 people dead in the last two years. They all grey up a few blocks from each other. They all died from some for of cancer in their late 20s, early 30s.</p> <p>How do you find a solution to that one?<br /> <br /> And how do you get rid of those big piles you're talking about? I don't know. <br /> <br /> Bio suits for everyone!</p> Making stuff out of other stuff means that you have to invest a certain energy into the making process. And the product on the other side had better be worth more than what you put into it. In theory I'm sure you could even make cars out of ash - say you compact the ash enough and add some stuff to it to form a viable composite. But what will it cost? More than making cars in other ways, I betcha.<br /> <br /> "Creating dried bio-solid asphalt fillers would be the same process used in refinery-based fillers. Water and unusable material must be drained from usable solids using complex heating and centrifuges. The materials are then dried and processed.<strong>The only reason Ellis doesn’t transform bio-solids into such filler material is because his company can make more money using refinery sludge</strong>. Converting Los Angeles sludge into a filler-related product could take five years for any company to develop into a solid business."<br /> <br /> Bingo.<br /> <br /> I call sludge on this one.<br /> <br /> ( oh, and it is "coarse", not "course", right? )<br /> <br /> As a postscript, I'm all for finding uses for the waste we create, so I agree with Ellis on that one. I have to wonder just how much "filler" the country really needs and whether this "filler" can't be produced cheaper and of better quality using different processes.<br /> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130890 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/ABC23/13532/#c_130890 Making stuff out of other stuff means that you have to invest a certain energy into the making process. And the product on the other side had better be worth more than what you put into it. In theory I'm sure you could even make cars out of ash - say you compact the ash enough and add some stuff to it to form a viable composite. But what will it cost? More than making cars in other ways, I betcha.<br /> <br /> "Creating dried bio-solid asphalt fillers would be the same process used in refinery-based fillers. Water and unusable material must be drained from usable solids using complex heating and centrifuges. The materials are then dried and processed.<strong>The only reason Ellis doesn’t transform bio-solids into such filler material is because his company can make more money using refinery sludge</strong>. Converting Los Angeles sludge into a filler-related product could take five years for any company to develop into a solid business."<br /> <br /> Bingo.<br /> <br /> I call sludge on this one.<br /> <br /> ( oh, and it is "coarse", not "course", right? )<br /> <br /> As a postscript, I'm all for finding uses for the waste we create, so I agree with Ellis on that one. I have to wonder just how much "filler" the country really needs and whether this "filler" can't be produced cheaper and of better quality using different processes.<br />