Greenwire, 12 Mar 08: New technology will turn Army trash into power in Iraq
....The Army will deploy two $1 million, four-ton biomass refineries to Iraq in early May to turn the piles of trash discarded in mess halls into electricity. Each generator will be capable of running for 20 hours on 1 ton of trash, providing enough power to light a small village.

Defense contractors and Purdue University scientists designed the refineries in an effort to reduce the military's diesel fuel use because fuel convoys are frequently targeted by insurgents.....