From Waste Streams to Renewable Energy

A possible solution to the disposal of waste streams is recycling them into an energy source via a process known as plasma gasification. This process involves the waste being heated to extremely high temperatures and converted into an energy source such as ethanol or synthetic diesel fuel. A company called S4 Energy Solutions LLC, which is a business venture between Waste Management Inc. and InEnTec LLC, is currently in the process of getting approval to add plasma gasification facilities to the Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington, Oregon which is already run by Waste Management Inc. The benefits of the process are said to be the reduction of solid waste by a ratio of 100 to 1 and the resulting fuel could replace some of the demand for other fuel sources that emit greater amounts of air pollution. 

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http://www.tech-faq.com/plasma-gasification.html

Article Sources:
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/05/18/daily45.html
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/07/waste_management_and_inentec_p.html
http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2011/07/29/inentec-raises-20m-for-growth-of-garbage-to-gas-tech/
http://waste360.com/news/waste-management-to-build-plasma-gasification-facility-20100304
http://www.deq.state.or.us/news/publicnotices/uploaded/110818_222_ColumbiaRidgePN.pdf
http://www.tech-faq.com/plasma-gasification.html