2010 could prove to be a big year for Marion, if Tepa Technologies chooses it as the location of a plasma arc waste disposal facility. As one of the first of its kind in the country, such a facility would place the city at the forefront of the shift toward, alternative energy sources.

A plasma arc facility is capable of taking a certain amount of solid waste each day and through use of a high-powered plasma torch, turning it into a byproduct, such as electricity. The initial plant that Tepa would like to build could handle roughly 120 tons of garbage each day.

For comparison, Marion creates 90 tons of residential waste daily, which means that a plasma arc facility of this size would be able to completely eliminate the city's footprint at the Linn County Solid Waste Agency. It also means that, in addition to that waste being eliminated, it would be transformed into an alternative form of energy that can power the area in place of coal, oil and natural gas.

We at the Times are enthusiastically in favor of Tepa coming to Marion, because we feel that alternative energy is likely to be the next major industry, and one in which Iowa is already poised to be a leader, between ethanol and wind farms in the western part of the state. A plasma arc facility would likewise place Marion in a pioneering position, hopefully helping to prove to the world that new, renewable energy sources are both economically and practically feasible.