Garbage In, Megawatts Out

The Ann Arbor MI landfill is currently using sewage effluent to generate methane from decomposition of the landfill. I'll try to find out more for you but this may demonstrate that it is feasible.  The Bates Auto gas convertor was made using Chicken Poop n straw in a heated reactor 80-90 ' F  for enough gas to power a car up to 75 mph, by a british entrepaneur,  The new Alchemy institute had a slide show on Methane powered power plants from waste, and home applied systems that showed bamboo piping and wax for fittings. etc Good luck.  Let me know of ant results. I'm tryiong to build a 10 step outhouse that has a methane decomposer and collection system.  Something similar to the Leslie Sciece Centers (Ann Arbor) composting toilets.

The article entitled “Garbage In, Megawatts Out” appeared on July 02 in the MIT Technology Review reporting that the city of Ottawa, Ontario had approved a gasification  facility that would use 400 metric tons/day (equal to 880 US tons) to produce 21 megawatts of electricity.  Before this is hailed as a breakthrough for turning waste into energy, it deserves further scrutiny.  It must be compared with recycling on the basis of the energy produced, effects on the environment, and the economy.

• Energy—Using the energy content of the waste consumed, the efficiency of the Ottawa facility can be calculated to be below 20%.  For each ton of material used for fuel, another ton must be produced from virgin materials to replace it.  The US EPA has supplied data on the energy required to produce a ton of each constituent of municipal solid waste from both virgin and recycled materials.  The energy saved by recycling is three to five times that produced using waste as a fuel.  Recycling the materials instead of using them as fuels saves more than the “megawatts out” even if the thermodynamic limit for energy efficiency could be achieved. 

• Environment—Producing new products from virgin raw material requires processes such as mining, use of fossil petroleum for plastics and fuel, and cutting or growing trees, all of which are detrimental to the environment, and are not sustainable.  Recycling paper and plastics would mean that fewer trees would be cut from Canada’s boreal forest and less of Alberta destroyed in extracting petroleum from oil sands.

• Economy—The EPA-data indicates that recycling the 400 MT/d would provide 1500 jobs with better pay than the average of all jobs, and add $25 million (US) to Ottawa’s economy.  Recycled materials are essential to industry.  Without recycled paper and cardboard, e.g., newspapers could not be printed nor products shipped in cardboard boxes.

Ottawa’s low recycling rate, especially the 17% for commercial waste that constitutes 70% of the waste, provides the opportunity to recycle much more of its waste, saving energy and the environment, while stimulating the economy.  Ottawa should follow the lead of San Francisco, Guelph, Edmonton, or Vancouver with a zero-waste goal.

I don't know if there are independent studies, but they show environmental performance on their website at http://www.plascoenergygroup.com/?Environmental_Performance. They use Continuous Emissions Monitoring equipment, and their website says "If you are aware of new and interesting monitoring technologies please let us know about them."

If this technology is all it is cracked up to be I would expect to see a few large metropolitan areas especially in the Northeast, where landfill space is in short supply, to begin lining up with RFPs or more likely sole source contracts for PlascoEnergy to build them some these plants. The footprint is only 3 acres. The future looks very bright for this company and their patented technology if their environmental performance stats are honest. They are not asking Ottawa to fork over any subsidies (other than space) to build the proposed 400 tonne per day plant. They are about to strike a deal with Ottawa where the company would put up all the necessary capital. The company and its patented system appear to be self sufficient and competitive.