Rocket Power

The same technology that sent humans to the moon may soon be powering your home with cleanly produced electricity. Clean Energy Systems of Sacramento, CA, has developed a gas generator that combines rocket and steam turbine technology to generate power while emitting minimal pollutants. The system burns a mixture of hydrocarbons and oxygen in the presence of water; it releases no carbon monoxide or unburned hydrocarbons. Carbon dioxide is extracted from the water for storage instead of being released into the atmosphere. A small-scale unit was recently tested at the University of California, Davis; Clean Energy Systems is building a full-scale generator.