Can crude oil be a renewable resource? Conventional fossil fuel takes millions of years to form, but a determined niche of modern alchemists are vastly accelerating the process to brew biocrude, a fuel similar to petroleum that is produced in less than two months from agricultural or municipal waste.
The limited success of Changing World Technologies (CWT), a biocrude pioneer first chronicled by DISCOVER in May 2003, reveals that there are more challenges than meet the eye in creating an environment-friendly, economically viable waste-to-fuel industry. Although the technology works, CWT has yet to turn waste into oil on a scale large enough to be profitable.
