The idea of turning garbage into energy is nothing new.  But a super high-tech plasma technology is now gaining steam that uses heat three times as hot as the surface of the sun to literally disintegrate trash into its molecular elements.  According to Popular Science magazine, one facility in Connecticut has a 15-foot machine that uses a 650-volt current passing between two electrodes to convert ordinary air into plasmas – thus creating a field of extremely intense energy much like lightning.  This energy is capable of breaking down virtually any waste – and the only by-products are a glass-like material, and synthetic gas that can be converted into ethanol, natural gas, or even hydrogen.