Turn trash into energy? Yes indeed. Many cities across the United States are doing just that. The idea makes good sense.

     After you perform Experiment 5, you will see that much of the waste we discard every day can be burned to produce heat. In turn, this heat can be used to generate electricity in a power plant.

     But combustible materials are only part of the story. We also discard organic wastes (such as food scraps) that can be transformed into methane gas, the chief component of natural gas. In this way, our garbage can help supplement America’s natural gas supply.

     According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, over 6 billion tons of waste of all kinds are produced in America each year. Now a large portion of this mind-boggling heap contains recoverable energy that never gets recovered. That’s a lot of energy going to waste . . . in waste.

     As you might expect, converting waste products into energy is an expensive process, particularly when it is done on a large scale. However, waste conversion kills two birds with one stone: First, it provides us with needed energy. Second, it helps us dispose of waste materials. For both of these reasons, many experts predict that waste conversion will become very popular in the years ahead.