The APS (Anaerobic Phased Solids) Digester is quite possibly the coolest thing ever.

Essentially, food waste, green waste and any other organic (as in containing fixed carbon) material goes in one end, and electricity (generated from methane produced by bacteria), compost and fiber products come out the other.

The technology is being developed by Dr. Ruihong Zhang a researcher for the department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, and http://www.onsitepowersystems.com Onsite Power Systems, who have licensed the technology. Zhangs digester is better than previous designs because hers does not require the solids to be ground up (which costs energy) before being fed into the digester.

Onsite power has a good deal of information on their http://www.onsitepowersystems.com/DigesterOverview.htm website. You can also read the http://www.californiaaggie.com/news/2004/10/27/SciTech/Solid.Waste.Digester.Turns.Garbage.Into.Electricity1318557.shtml Aggie article but it has no paragraphs.
