[OKC] From NY Times: Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags

[Miles, Karen]

Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags


By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/elisabeth_
rosenthal/index.html?inline=nyt-per> 


HORSHOLM, Denmark - The lawyers and engineers who dwell in an elegant
enclave here are at peace with the hulking neighbor just over the back
fence: a vast energy plant that burns thousands of tons of household
garbage and industrial waste, round the clock. 

Far cleaner than conventional incinerators, this new type of plant
converts local trash into heat and electricity. Dozens of filters catch
pollutants, from mercury to dioxin, that would have emerged from its
smokestack only a decade ago. 

In that time, such plants have become
<http://viewer.zmags.com/showmag.php?mid=wsdps>  both the mainstay of
garbage disposal and a crucial fuel source across Denmark, from wealthy
exurbs like Horsholm to Copenhagen's downtown area. Their use has not
only reduced the country's energy costs and reliance on oil and gas, but
also benefited the environment, diminishing the use of landfills and
cutting carbon dioxide emissions. The plants run so cleanly that many
times more dioxin is now released from home fireplaces and backyard
barbecues than from incineration. 

With all these innovations, Denmark now regards garbage as a clean
alternative fuel rather than a smelly, unsightly problem. And the
incinerators, known as waste-to-energy plants, have acquired
considerable cachet as communities like Horsholm vie to have them built.


To continue reading, click on this hyperlink title:  Europe Finds Clean
Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/science/earth/13trash.html?th&emc=th>


 

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