Gas From Garbage Finally Gets Momentum

After decades of dreaming, schemes to turn waste into fuel are finally getting traction in the US, with some 28 plants in the works and a handful even up and running, the New York Times reports. They consume everything from wood chips to garbage, as once-prohibitively expensive processes become competitive with $4-a-gallon gasoline. “American innovation is going to come up with the solution,” one researcher tells the Times.

In the frenzy to be first to market, small start-ups are now getting a boost from corporate giants (Honeywell, Dupont, General Motors, Shell, BP) newly interested in acquiring stakes. There are many hurdles, but the government is giving the nascent industry a big push, as studies tout its potential to replace half the gasoline used in the US. Legislation passed last year mandates the use of 36 billion gallons of biofuels a year by 2022, less than half of it from corn ethanol. (More algae biofuel stories.)