Charles Vigliotti, chief executive of American Organic Energy, turns kitchen scraps into energy. Unlike oil and coal, which are expensive to dig out of the ground, food waste is something that cities will actually pay someone to haul away. Vigliotti is genius, embodying the phrase that one mans trash is another treasure. Vigliotti uses a anaerobic digester that costs about 50 million dollars. This tech plant does cost more to build and run than compost sites, but they more than make up for that by generating two separate revenue streams: fertilizer and biogas, which is chemically similar to natural gas and can be burned to make heat and electricity. By using trash he is creating energy. this system is remarkable. Being from New York City, its clear that we produce tons of waste every year. Imagine being able to take that waste and cultivate an energy source instead of harming the Earth. This gives us hope for the future. This method of creating energy should be implemented in all large cities in America. Americans produce the most waste in comparison to other countries. If we use our waste to create energy we would be the country with the most energy and other countries would look to us as leaders in sustainability. the down side to producing energy like this, we have to sort through our garbage and burning these materials is smelly. In the future I hope that more companies adopt this method, Vigliotti deserves all the credit in the world.
