For decades, factories in Cleveland's Industrial Valley have sent smoke and even fire out of their smokestacks 鈥� a process known as 鈥渇laring.鈥�
Margaret Liske from Hudson has always wondered about the smokestacks along I-77 near Cleveland.
鈥淭hey belch out huge, high billows of smoke and -- at night -- fire. Why is this potential heat not somehow recycled [or] reused?鈥�
For the answer, we asked Krishna Rao, a chemical engineer who recently retired as president of Valley View-based plastics firm, Nanofilm.
鈥淭here鈥檚 this constant push-and-pull about what鈥檚 good for the environment versus what鈥檚 good for the company in trying to reduce their costs. It鈥檚 more expensive to burn it and use it as a source of energy because they have access to lower cost fuel. Or if they decide to ship it somewhere else, the cost of transportation 鈥� whether through tankers or through pipelines 鈥� will require a lot more investment. That鈥檚 been the [classic] argument.鈥�
Rao says other countries, including Russia and , have required a decrease in these types of emissions. He hopes the U.S. will, too.
You can .
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