The Prophet of Garbage

Joseph Longo's Plasma Converter turns our most vile and toxic trash into clean energy—and promises to make a relic of the landfill

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Ah, alternative energy sources. Why don’t they get more R&D funding? Why hasn’t the government pushed to find more things like Joseph Longo’s Plasma Converter?

Joseph had a great idea, put trash in, incinerate that trash breaking it down into it’s elemental components (plasma gasification), with the only outputs being a synthesis gas that can be refined to a multitude of different fuels, and an “obsidian-like glass used as a raw material for numerous applications, including bathroom tiles and high-strength asphalt.” Sounds pretty good. Almost too good to be true…why hasn’t this caught on before now?

Turns out it has. Based on the article, the US Army was the first to buy a Plasma Converter…10 years ago. Seems for the most part, it hasn’t been monetarily responsible to buy and run one, what with the energy costs to run the converter. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, with rising gasoline and fuel costs, and the cost to keep buying land to fill with garbage combined with the increased waste from heavily populated areas (like New York), these Plasma Converters have now become feasible to buy and run.

The next logical question is the same with most alternative energies that are researched…will the bureaucrats in government who get kickbacks from those who make money on the old, inefficient, and environmentally unsafe processes let something like this proceed? Based on the article, it looks like New York’s going to give it a try, and a lot of more responsible and less greedy countries already have their orders in for their converters.

Got any other interesting alternative energy articles out there? Let me know, I’d love to blog them and get them on digg!

Motormobile…the Motorcycle for the average person?

I caught this story on digg and had to share it with everyone. I know this will interest at least one ready of my blog…

I almost wish I could live in Europe at least for the fact that they get all the cool-looking environmentally safe cars well before the US does (if we ever do). I remember seeing the Da Vinci Code last year, and thinking to myself “You know, I bet even your worthless butt could parallel park a Smart Car.” I thought they were a pretty good idea…but they didn’t seem to offer enough power or for that fact ability to travel long enough distances to make it worth it. Still…the idea of a smaller vehicle which would run on some sort of hybrid motor which is more efficient without the loss of significant power or range would be a great idea…

Enter: the VentureOne.

No, it’s not the Venture Brothers’ new vehicle for Season 3, it’s a new take on the Reliant Robin crossing a smaller automobile with new technology enabling the 3-wheeled vehicle to turn like a motorcycle. The vehicle can house up two people. It goes 0 – 60 mph in 6 seconds. It uses a hybrid motor that runs on gas, but that engine is constantly recharging a battery. As such, the vehicle gets 100 miles on 1 gallon of gas. It’s a big enough vehicle to still be safe but, at 11 foot long and thinner than a Mini Cooper, you can actually drive two VentureOnes side by side on a one-lane road.

In the article, they point out that this vehicle is far more like a motorcycle, but with amenities like that of a car. It’s entirely enclosed, it offers heat and air conditioning, a stereo, etc.

Being that the vehicle crosses both, I could easily see this turning into the new BMW or Mercedes for those corporate people who still want to maintain their “edge” or “bad-boy image.” If made safe enough to pass safety standards in the US, this vehicle would make an impact. Imagine being able to travel between lanes of cars, like motorcycles do now in Cali, during a traffic jam. With a top speed of 100mph, I’m sure you could modify one of these to be a new type of highly efficient police vehicle as well. Heck, modify it enough, and you’d have a whole brand new type of auto racing for all of America to enjoy.

Personally, I could see it as our bridge vehicle to the future. I’m sure all the Al Gore’s of the world would love the possible positive affects on the environment. This could make a significant impact on our use of fossil fuels to power our everyday vehicles. I wonder if you could make the VentureOne off of ethanol or some other alternative fuel?

Best of all? It looks damn cool. I want one. What do you think? Let me know in comments!