The race is on to find new green ways of generating power, and methods of reducing the amount of rubbish we spread across the planet. A company called Geoplasma thinks it can do both at once, and is building a new power plant in Florida – one that vapourises landfill waste with plasma arcs to create a ‘rock-like material’ and methane gas. All the by-products have uses – the gas for power, the solid stuff for road-making, and the excess steam has been earmarked for a nearby juice processing plant. Which all sounds great, but the plant has its critics, who point to two similar setups that were forced to close down after failing emissions tests. We’ll have to wait and see.