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Eduardo wrote:
We use methane from landfill to produce energy already. I'm not sure why there isn't greater focus on developing it as an energy source. Obviously energy is released through combustion so it's not without its problems, but much cleaner than coal. I'd guess as clean as any natural gas power station.

Similarly enegy from waste (where they just burn rubbish) gets a similar lack of press.

I think you're right that it's partly because they're not as sexy as other technologies, but we need to remember that they can only ever be a small part of the answer.

Landfill and incineration tap into the enormous quantity of waste we produce; if we're moving to a more sustainable society, we're going to reduce that quantity of waste and so cut down on that fuel source.

But even if it stays at current levels, it's a small amount. It's rather like the way people can be fed from the good food thrown in the bins behind supermarkets, but there certainly isn't enough for everyone.

A friend of mine works on systems that integrate all the waste from cattle back into the farms energy needs- methane and compost are harvested.

I think a methane economy is probably more readily achievable than a hydrogen economy.
The larger market's hesitancy to move into alternate energy has a lot to do with the uncertainties surrounding things like standards for hardware interfaces, types of fuels to engineer for, etc... in a far larger sense its similar to the HD-DVD/Blue-Ray shakeout.. there's an initial period where consumer adoption is hesitant, and only when the field collapses to embrace one format does the new medium achieve ubiquity.