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Plasma converter turns garbage into electricity
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Popular Science - March 2007 Issue


Popular Science - March 2007 Issue, March 1, 2007
Posted: February 22nd, 2007
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2007-03/prophet-garbag...

The Plasma Converter ... can consume nearly any type of wastefrom dirty diapers to chemical weaponsby annihilating toxic materials in a process ... called plasma gasification. A 650-volt current passing between two electrodes rips electrons from the air, converting the gas into plasma. The plasma arc is so powerful, it disintegrates trash into its constituent elements by tearing apart molecular bonds. The system is capable of breaking down pretty much anything except nuclear waste. The only by-products are an obsidian-like glass [and] a mixture of primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide that can be converted into a variety of marketable fuels, including ethanol, natural gas and hydrogen. Perhaps the most amazing part of the process is that its self-sustaining. Once the cycle is under way, the 2,200F syngas is fed into a cooling system, generating steam that drives turbines to produce electricity. About two thirds of the power is siphoned off to run the converter; the rest can be used on-site for heating or electricity, or sold back to the utility grid. Even a blackout would not stop the operation of the facility. New York City is already paying an astronomical $90 a ton to get rid of its trash. According to Startech, a few 2,000-ton-per-day plasma-gasification plants could do it for $36. Sell the syngas and surplus electricity, and youd actually net $15 a ton. But the decision-making bureaucracy can be slow, and it is hamstrung by the politically well-connected waste-disposal industry. Startech isnt the only company using plasma to turn waste into a source of clean energy. A handful of start-upsGeoplasma, Recovered Energy, PyroGenesis, EnviroArc and Plasco Energy, among othershave entered the market in the past decade.

Note: Why hasn't this amazing, proven machine and technology made front page headlines? Read the exciting article at the link above to find how it is already being used. For why you don't know about it, read this excellent article on how such inventions are suppressed.


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