Almost everything can be converted into energy!

Nowadays, Belgium is very innovative when it comes to producing alternative energy. The stuff they convert into energy is so out of this world you won’t believe: the fat of a washed up sperm whale, algae oil or even chicory, melon and cactus!
The Walloon enterprise GreenWatt , a spin-off of the university of Leuven, invented a system that converts vegetable waste into durable and clean energy. At the moment, GreenWatt is in the commercialization stage. It’s already closely collaborating with Joluwa, a cultivator of chicory, and with Boyer, a wholesale business in fruits. The GreenWatt installation on their site enables them to reduce their waste without additional costs. On the contrary, they will be able to save money on their energy bill and they can even sell their energy surplus. Unfortunately, there is still a major drawback: not everyone can afford such an installation since it requires a considerable investment. But for the companies that can afford it, it’s worth the money because the project has a good return on investment. Currently GreenWatt is even building a biogas installation in Chile that will run on cactuses. This project will kill two birds with one stone: it responds to the rising need for energy in Chile and the cactus plantations will help in preventing the desertification in Chile.
Proviron, again a Belgian enterprise, is convinced that algae oil will replace fuel in the future to feed cars and is working on its commercialization right now. If you would like some more information on this technique: I have an interesting article on the subject so you can always contact me, or just check out the website: http://www.proviron.com/product-groups/microalgae
By the way, perhaps you know any other crazy examples of products that are used to produce energy (maybe invented by other innovative Belgians) ?

Eline Moens