Quote:
A sealed, stainless steel vessel is filled with a stable gas such as pure nitrogen. When a 650-volt current passes between two electrodes, electrons are ripped from the air, converting the gas into plasma. As current continues to flow, it creates an intense energy field with plasma arcs, which are like lightning. The radiant energy of the 30,000˚F plasma arcs disintegrates trash into its basic elements by tearing apart the materials' molecular bonds.

Tile, wood, nails, glass, metal, plastic, diapers-almost any material can be broken down with Startech's technology, eliminating the time-consuming, tedious and costly process of sorting waste by hand. (Nuclear waste is an exception due to its indestructible isotopes.)

Only two by-products come out the opposite end of the machine: an obsidian-like glass and "syngas," which is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide
. The glass can be recycled as a raw material for applications such as tiles and asphalt.

The syngas is one of the biggest attractions of plasma gasification. The 2,200˚F mixture can be cooled to generate steam for electricity, or converted into fuel such as ethanol, natural gas or hydrogen. About two-thirds of the fuel powers the plasma machine to make it self-sustaining, and the rest could be used for onsite electrical use or sold back to the grid for profit.

The power of plasma gasification makes it not only an environmentally
clean technique, but also economic. Longo says that a Startech machine that costs about $250 million could break down about 2,000 tons of waste daily-enough to accommodate the needs of a city of a million people. Such an investment
could pay for itself in about 10 years, not even including the money made from selling the excess electricity and syngas.

U.S. Energy's Paul Marazzo has one concern, though. Many landfill operators are politically well-connected, and enjoy getting a million dollars a month out of debris. With a plasma gasification converter, these businessmen would lose much of their revenue.

an assortment of investors from China, Japan, Romania, Poland, Italy, Russia, Brazil, Venezuela, the U.K., Mexico and Canada are interested.

http://inventorspot.com/articles/pla...nsforms_g_6315

This is a good example of efficient technology being put aside for the "future" while an old existing technology remains in place because removing it would cut jobs and tax America!