Plasma Gasification Raises Hopes of Clean Energy From Garbage

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/science/plasma-gasification-raises-hopes-of-clean-energy-from-garbage.html?_r=1&ref=science David Robau, an environmental scientist for the Air Force, is touring the country promoting a system that may sound too good to be true. This system devours municipal, or local, garbage, recycles metals, blasts toxic contaminants and produces electricity and usable byproducts, all with drastic reductions in emissions. Being an environmental scientist for the Air Force, he began developing this plan in order to dispose of garbage with neither the harmful byproducts of conventional incineration nor the environmental impact of transporting and burying waste. This is now known as plasma arc gasification. This can break chemical bonds and destroy medical waste, asbestos and hydrocarbons, some of which could be hazardous. However, such a system will discourage recycling and the development of renewable products, and will in fact result in toxic substances like dioxins. However, Mr. Robau maintains that the process is earth-friendly. “This is not incineration,” he said. “This is gasification, so it’s a lot cleaner, a lot better for the environment.” This system has been tested and hard at work for a while now, and at the end, around 100 percent of all the metals on the base are being recycled. And due to the lack of dioxin, which is what people thought would come out of this system; this system would be a benefit over traditional incinerators and other types of gasifies, in which lower temperatures and incomplete burning result in toxic compounds.