$500K Plasma Conversion grant by DOE

My biggest concern with this technology would be its energy efficiency. Where does the energy for this process come from? What does the ultimate energy balance look like? It's interesting that the process basically strips "bad stuff" down into its consituent elements - one of which will be hydrogen - but it seems to me there have to be many objectives in play for this technology to be economically feasible.

Yep, that's an excellent point. If the technology reclaims, say, only 1 unit of power for every 100 burned, then it would have to clean up waste that could not be otherwise remediated in order to make it all worthwhile.

The whole technology will turn on the cost - benefit analysis. If a market can be found to use the elemental output (hydrogen, carbon, etc) from the plasma to offset the huge energy cost to initalize and maintain the plasma burn, we will be closer to seeing this technology used. It could then be billed as a "recyling center", while allowing society to safely manage hazardous materials. But, who would want to live next to it???