[greenyes] Waste-to-Energy

["Dan De Grassi" <dpw180@no.address>]

DAILY GRIST
27 Feb 2004
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>


1.
BURN ME UP, SCOTTY
Super-Hot Trash Zapper May Yield Hydrogen

This just in:  The future is now.  "Plasma torch technology" is=20
gaining acceptance among corporations and governments, and may soon=20
show up at a waste facility near you.  Here's how it works:  Trash --=20
anything from municipal garbage to toxic waste to PCBs -- is zapped=20
(at least we think that's the technical term) with a plasma torch=20
that burns three times hotter than the sun.  The resulting products=20
are obsidian-like stone, heavy metals that can be recovered for=20
industrial use, and hydrogen-rich gases that can serve as fuel.  One=20
company has already developed a filter that will extract pure=20
hydrogen from the gas, which means plasma torch technology (we love=20
saying that) may one day play a role in the much-ballyhooed,=20
possibly-just-around-the-corner "hydrogen economy."  The consensus=20
among scientists, enviros, and sci-fi devotees is that the new=20
technology is "rad."

straight to the source:  Planet Ark, Reuters, Timothy Gardner, 27 Feb =
2004
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3D2076>