VIDEO: Davis Company's Trash-to-Diesel Invention Could Change the World

A Davis company's invention could dramatically change the way we deal with the disposal of trash as well as the production of energy.  

Sierra Energy, which is headquartered at 221 First Street in Davis, creates the FastOx Pathfinder, which won the top award of “Most Innovative New Product of the Year” at Rabobank's Sierra Nevada Innovation Challenge on June 21, according to the Sacramento Bee.

There were 42 companies in the fields of clean tech, health care, agriculture, Internet and manufacturing. The competitors gave six-minute presentations to an audience of potential investors and other entrepreneurs, according to the Sacramento Business Journal.

FastOx Pathfinder is a compact waste gasification system that converts trash into renewable diesel, as you can see in the video above. Later models are expected to produce renewable electricity or ethanol or hydrogen, according to the company's website. 

“Instead of allowing trash to waste away in landfills, our FastOx Pathfinder converts trash into power for our homes and fuel for our vehicles,” said Mike Hart, Sierra Energy’s CEO in a press release. “We have a choice: we can either buy polluting oil from overseas or we can profitably create jobs in America by creating clean, and more efficient, energy at home.”

Presenters at the competition worked to convince a panel of judges as to why their product would change the world or people’s lives.

Sierra Energy was also named as a Going Green Silicon Valley Top 200 company this year for the second time. The company’s corporate headquarters is located at 221 First Street in town.

• Like Davis Patch on Facebook
• Follow on Twitter
• Get Free Newsletter