The Oil Drum: Europe

One recurring theme in nature is that anything which creates a waste product tends to also create an ecological niche for something which uses that product.  This has also occurred in technology.  It is relatively common for waste products which contain energy to find uses, but we may be about to see something a little different and more radical.  For the past century, millions of tons of a particular waste product have been piling up all over the earth.  This waste product contains no useful energy or rare elements, so its potential has taken longer to be widely recognized.  It might just become something far more important to the future:  a cheap and abundant energy-maker.