Junk Computers Could Fuel Cars One Day: Holding Breath…Now

You know that crappy computer you have been meaning to toss out? Hold on there my friend—the next breakthrough vehicle fuel source could be contained within its valuable circuit boards (although most likely not). Scientists in Romania and Turkey have employed a combination of catalysts, high temperatures and chemical filtration to remove toxic chemicals from old computers an other electronic devices resulting in oils that could be used for fuel or raw materials in other consumer products.

Studies indicate that electronic scraps are the fastest growing component of our waste system, so it is imperative that we find ways to recycle these products and put them to good use. As you probably know, the recycling of scrap circuit boards is of particular interest because of the valuable metals they contain. However, I don’t plan on holding my breath that old, crappy Dell desktops will be an alternative fuel gold mine. [Live Science]