Charlie Kress, Treasurer
WastenotIOWA

Today the DNR Environmental Protection Committee unanimously approved the contract between the City of Marion and SCS Engineers so we can now go forward with the Plasma Torch Study. The Commissioners were very supportive and look forward to the results as well as our progress.

Also, thanks to Mayor Paul Rehn who also spoke on behalf of approving the contract and Charlie who was able to provide some more details in answer to Commission questions. There were five wastenotIOWA folks there for support as well. The Commission made the decision before lunch however this is my first opportunity to get to my laptop. Thanks to everyone who has helped to get us this far.

Two days later, the Marion, Iowa city council approved the city’s contract with Floriday based SCS Engineering to complete our economic analysis of the potential for a plasma torch facility here. We’ll meet with them soon.

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Did you know that over 94% of personal computers have hidden corrupt dangerous files with over 150 hidden errors and bugs on them?

mailbox:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Dennis%20Naughton/Application%20Data/Thunderbird/Profiles/0jqcrecb.default/Mail/pop.xwires.net/Inbox?number=558650207&part=1.1.2&filename=image002.gif

I think of the plasma arc as the “spark” between two electrodes that have had a voltage high enough to generate the spark applied to the electrodes. PC magazine defines plasma in this way: “One of four states of matter (solid, liquid, plasma and gas). The plasma state is a gas that is heated to the point where it begins to release electrons. Although plasma occurs naturally on the sun and other stars, it is artificially produced in fluorescent lights and plasma displays by electrically charging a gas in order to release ultraviolet light.” The plasma arc (3,000oC to 5,000oC) in a gasification scheme melts nonorganic material and dissociates (breaks the carbon-based compounds into basic elements.

The melted inorganic material is not plasma – it is a glass-like obsidian material from which there is virtually no leaching. The waste is “placed” in the plasma really means the waste is passed through a plasma arc between two electrodes. Their annotated diagram is

Attached to this email is InEnTec’s explanation from their website.

The number to call to arrange a tour is at the Agency: 377-5290. Pat will schedule your group. Tours are normally Wednesdays and Fridays. There are no tours this coming week. After that, it’s okay if they have openings.

Plans to burn trash with plasma face hurdles
Plans to generate power and eliminate landfill waste by ripping trash apart at the molecular level in Florida and California are running into steep hurdles from local opponents.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28237082/from/ET/

NOTE. If you are successful you may find that some sites are more suited for one use of the syngas than others. Just keep all of your options on the table.

Best of luck.
Terry Kocsis, Ohio

December 1, 2007

Coal is used to produce half of the electricity consumed in the United States. Demand for energy is expected to grow by 40 percent by 2030. The Bush administration forecasts that 6,000 megawatts of additional coal-fired capacity is needed every year to meet that demand.

However, coal is believed to be a leading source of greenhouse gases and causing global warming. Of over 150 announced plans to build new coal-fired power plants, only 15 have been built since 2002, generating a total of 3,700 megawatts. At least 16 power plant proposals totaling nearly 14,000 megawatts have been scrapped due to political pressure.

This can be compared to plans in China to add a new coal-fired power plant at the rate of nearly one per week over the next decade. Emissions from these plants alone are predicted to nullify the cuts made by Europe, Japan and other countries under the Kyoto Treaty according to a report from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

Attempts to clean up coal have largely been unsuccessful. Technology to reduce or cut out CO2 emissions is expensive and years away from widespread commercial use. As the collision between demand and supply grows closer, activists claim the only solution is to reduce consumption.