Stirling cycle generators produce electricity from almost any form of heat or fuel: waste gases from landfills or sewage treatment plants, biomass, solar energy and paint fumes.  STM Power was originally organized as a research and development company that did experiments and demonstrations showcasing a variety of energy-related technologies, including engines based on the Stirling Cycle, a technology invented in 1816. The Stirling is an external combustion engine, somewhat like a steam engine, that burns fuel to heat a liquid or gas in a sealed system -- hydrogen in the case of STM's Power Units. That heated hydrogen is then used to drive pistons that are in turn connected to an electrical generator.

Stirling cycle engines are versatile, reliable, efficient, and competitively priced.  Ford Motor Co. runs one of STM's generating systems on paint fumes from the automaker's Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne. 

Attached below is a complete brochure from STM power, an Ann Arbor, MI based company, which further explains the technology behind the Stirling Engine. The website of Stirling Technology, Inc., an Athens, OH based company, also contains information on the technology and global deployment of the Stirling Engine.