Natural Resources committee  That's a great question, one I'm going to have an insufficient answer to. The only ones that really are under development with respect to municipal solid waste are technologies we've been talking about for decades: gasification, pyrolysis, plasma arc. Those are all technologies that are in existence today; they're just not being used on a commercial scale for municipal solid waste.

Natural Resources committee  No, I don't recall saying that. Roughly half, maybe just a little less than half of the 85 facilities in the United States are privately owned. About 44 of the 85, I believe, are publicly owned. Oftentimes it's public. Whether it's owned by the local government or owned by a private company, it is a public–private partnership.

Natural Resources committee  I tell you, that is really where I think some of the innovation may lie, and not necessarily in the means of converting the waste energy, whether it be combustion or gasification or other technologies. I think scale is going to be the next frontier, if you will. Right now, there is an economic sweet spot with making facilities of 1,000 tonnes per day capacity or greater.

Natural Resources committee  There are several different types in the United States. For instance, there are policies that have been implemented at the state level called renewable electricity standards. They will provide credits for renewable electricity generation. We've not seen that type of policy enacted at the federal level.

Natural Resources committee  I did.

Natural Resources committee  That's a challenge that's faced by every type of energy generator. It's nothing unique to the waste energy sector. An important part is providing as much information as you can. Providing as much science-based data as possible is a great first start. A lot of times people are nervous about the unknown, so when you're going into a community that has not had experience or history with this technology, there is naturally going to be some fear of the unknown.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I'm pleased to be with you via video conference this afternoon to talk about the role of waste to energy in the innovative energy sector. I am president of the Energy Recovery Council, which is the national trade association representing the companies and communities engaged in the waste energy sector in the United States.