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Brief article in MIT Tech Review on strides made in gasification processes (turning garbage/ waste into fuel & electricity), in this case *without* using incineration. That last bit is key, since incineration is a huge polluter.

And the new method(s) aren't commercially viable yet:
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There may still be hurdles to commercial success. Childress notes that waste gasification may still face problems with local regulations. And companies using similar technologies have failed in the past. Nevertheless, some waste-gasification companies are reporting initial success. For example, Enerkem, based in Alberta, Edmonton, has opened a commercial facility to convert used utility poles into methanol and ethanol. It has signed an agreement with the city of Edmonton to process 100,000 tons of municipal solid waste a year for 25 years, although that's still a relatively small amount compared with other options for disposing of waste.
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Tags: garbage, waste, waste_management, fuel, mit_techreview, gasification on 2009-05-27 -All Annotations (0) -About

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Fascinating article about Daniel Nocera's work on biomimical process similar to photosynthesis, except in this case it's sunlight turning water into hydrogen. If the process can scale, it has revolutionary implications for energy supplies.

Tags: biomimicry, daniel_nocera, photosynthesis, energy, hydrogen, fuel on 2008-10-20 -All Annotations (0) -About

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NYT article on the problems around "the other oil crisis," triggered not in small measure by our (West's) desire to circumvent fossil fuel dependence by relying on biofuels.

Tags: crops, energy, ethanol, food, fuel, geopolitics, oil, palm_oil on 2008-01-19 -All Annotations (0) -About

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