Here is an example of technology used to clean our air (from rice straw burning) which seems promising.
An Excerpt.
Research may spin rice straw into gold
New uses could turn field waste into ethanol or fast-food packaging.
By Herbert A. Sample -- Bee San Francisco BureauPublished 12:01 am PDT Monday, August 7, 2006
ALBANY -- Since 1991, state law has forced Sacramento Valley rice growers to drastically cut the amount of straw they burn, obliging them to leave most of it in the fields after harvest or pay someone to cart the stuff away.
But far from the rice paddies, in this urbanized Bay Area town, research is finding new uses for material left behind after kernels are removed from the plant.
Workers at the federal Agricultural Research Service are looking into ways of converting rice straw, wheat straw and other "biomass" material into ethanol, or packaging material and fast-food containers.
All this work comes at a judicious time as gasoline prices continue their upward spike -- making ethanol an attractive option. And, more cities are considering following examples set by Berkeley, Portland and Oakland, which have prohibited Styrofoam food containers. San Francisco will consider a similar ban this summer.
