This almost sounds like a travel log, but with a twist. It seems that countries in the far corners of the globe (and in between) are quite interested in getting a handle on finding available solutions for their waste streams being generated by agricultural crops or by human consumption – even in the Middle East! In addition, agricultural waste that isn’t immediately plowed back into the land creates toxic methane gas while it decomposes. The same holds true for the waste generated by each of us which is then carted off to the landfill.

To be sure (and this is the understatement of our lifetime), the same holds true for the whole planet. Is there a solution? Yes, there are many solutions. But which one is the most viable and how is it measured? Sheer economics or a combination of financial returns coupled with social and environmental concerns?

I have spent the past six days in Abu Dhabi (the capital of the United Arab Emirates) at the urging of both private and public concerns who need a least one solution to their growing municipal solid waste problems. One very efficient and affordable option is the KDV technology which can convert municipal solid waste (as well as almost all other organic waste) into a very high grade diesel fuel.

And here we are in the middle of the planet’s richest oil producing countries! MSW is a worldwide problem and the lack of high quality diesel fuel is another. So why not convert MSW into diesel fuel?

Not only have we been meeting with the movers and shakers in Abu Dhabi, but there are projects “on the table” and being actively discussed for Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain and Yemen.

I can’t avoid this pun: We can’t bury our heads in the sand anymore and wish the problem of worldwide waste to disappear. That will take private and public partnerships working together. This, like global warming, is an environmental disaster in the making.