U.S. Army is teaming up with a Davis startup to turn trash into energy

Listening to Mike Hart describe how his start-up company is turning trash into energy for homes and cars, you’ll be tempted to go home, put your garbage in your car trunk and drive it over to Sierra Energy’s Davis headquarters.

You can’t, but Hart hopes one day to have facilities around the world harnessing the power of such waste.

Essentially, the company uses a blast furnace to heat metals, glass, ash and organic solids to a temperature of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than the temperatures at the center of a volcano, Hart said. That process yields liquid metal, liquid slag, carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

With funding from the U.S. Army the Sierra Energy team is constructing a demonstration plant at Fort Hunter Liggettin Monterey County.