Is Gasifying Garbage with Plasma the Answer - 12/19/08

Sun is plasma and so is lightning.  California and Florida are looking at using plasma to gasify garbage, creating heat to generate power.

Plasma can have temperatures over 7,000 degrees centigrade, which is three times hotter than what fossil fuel burns at.  Plasma arc or artificial lightning can convert organic materials into synthetic gas and melt inorganic materials into solid forms to be used for construction materials.  No waste, so there would be no need for landfills.

One ton of municipal solid waste can create 815 Kilowatt hours of electricity.  This is 20 to 50 percent more efficient than any other conversion of waste to energy technology.  The power created is six times the electricity used in the plasma gasification process.

Plasma gasification plants have been operating in Japan since 2002.  The Mihama Mikata plant processes 24 tons of solid waste and 4 tons of sewage sludge per day.  The Utashinai plant processes 300 tons per day, producing 7.9 Megawatts of electricity and 3.6 MW is used by the plant leaving 4.3 MW for the electrical power grid. 

Plasma gasification in the United States could create more renewable energy than all other renewable energies combined.

Plasma gasification is clean burning because of the high temperatures.  Gas emissions from plasma are much cleaner than other forms of gasification.

Landfills produce large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas, but if garbage is sent to plasma gasification plants it could not produce methane.  Energy generated could replace energy made by coal plants.  For every ton of garbage sent to a plasma plant for power production 2 tons of CO2 emissions could be reduced.

The construction of plasma gasification plants in the U.S. and Canada is expected to begin in 2009.

Plasma gasification could play a big role in clean coal gasification.  If all the solid waste in the U.S. was processed by plasma gasification over 5 percent of the U.S. electrical needs could be met. 

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