Top Innovators: InEnTec
By By Wes Simons October 28, 2010
This article originally appeared in the November 2010 issue of Seattle magazine.
In the movie Back to the Future, a time machine uses garbage as fuel. In a case of science fiction ending up in real life, InEnTec has introduced a technology that employs much the same idea. InEnTecs PEM system, for Plasma Enhanced Melter, uses plasma, or electrically charged gas, to rearrange the molecules of waste. Waste goes in; usable products come out.
The PEM final product can include alternative transportation fuels, electricity and manufacturing feedstock, or the raw materials required for industrial processes. Almost any type of organic waste can go into the machine, including municipal, industrial, medical and hazardous waste. The end product is a large amount of syngas, gas produced synthetically as opposed to natural gas. From the syngas, fuels like ethanol and diesel can be created. Syngas is also an excellent replacement for natural gas because of its renewable nature.
