Marty McFly's Lessons in Waste Management Are Put Into Action »

Posted By brendoman 1 year, 1 month ago in Science & Technology

Prop it 7 Drop it

If Doc Brown and Marty McFly can use trash to power a time machine you'd think we'd be able to use it to power a television. I mean, we don't need to go Back to the Future or anything, we just need to keep the lights on. Is that too much to ask? One company doesn't think so.

Jacoby Group's Atlanta-based Geoplasma intends to set up plasma refuse plants in the United States to transform ordinary garbage into usable energy. It's not exactly the same technology as the DeLorean's "Mr. Fusion," but it couldn't be easier for the consumer: Simply place your trash on the curb and the plant's "Gasifier" turns it into power. More specifically, the garbage is fed into a 10,000 degree Fahrenheit stream of plasma, which causes organic compounds to vaporize, creating a syngas that can be cleaned and used to run an electric turbine.