Energy: Refuse turns resource: Diverted from land fills to hammer mills, municipal waste becomes an economic energy resource

Gasoline, heating oil, and electric bills in recent months all testify to the inflationary effect of unchecked demand on limited supply. Short-term, workable solutions to the problem seem tangled in a web of expert opinion. Scientists argue the merits of nuclear fusion, solar power derived from synchronous satellites, or the hydrogen economy. Environmentalists champion austerity, conservation, and a curtailment of open-ended public consumption. But at least part of the answer could lie outside Buck Rogers and bureaucratic thinking in the earthy, engineering realm of bootstrapping. The municipal waste of industrial nations - long relegated to rat-infested land fills - can be diverted to fueling electric power and steam plants. Practical, workable systems already exist, while others are under advanced development. And it's a safe bet that no one need worry about running out of trash!