Megawatts from municipal waste

An unwanted by-product of civilization, refuse is now emerging as the "Cinderella" fuel - the result of rising fossil-fuel costs and strong social and environmental pressure for clean waste disposal. On the East Coast of the United States, for example, as well as in some West Coast areas, where there is predominant dependence on oil or low-sulfur coal, it is now generally economical to generate electricity from refuse and charge only reasonable disposal fees. Such generation can be accomplished by electric utilities, by private firms selling the power to the utilities at mutually advantageous rates, or by local municipalities themselves.