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Incineration – Solid Waste Disposal
Waste to Biofuel and Chemicals Project Funded in Hawaii
8 April 2013
A zero waste biofuel and high protein feed program in Hilo, Hawaii has been awarded $200,000 by the state Department of Agriculture at a special open house event at the USDA Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center (PBARC).
According to the state the PBARC, together with BioTork Hawaii have invested over $1 million developing an economically sustainable zero waste conversion project, which produces biofuel and high protein animal feed from unmarketable papaya.
BioTork is a Florida based company focused on the development of microbial strains capable of producing bio-based chemical commodities such as lipids, alcohol fuels, enzymes, polymers and other valuable compounds from affordable and renewable organic feedstock.
The conversion process is claimed to take 14 days to cycle in a heterotrophic environment, meaning no sunlight is needed using organically optimised algae/fungi developed and patented by BioTork.
According to Governor Neil Abercrombie the state’s $200,000 investment will assist PBARC in moving the project to pilot scale as a prelude to commercial production.
The State of Hawaii’s Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) will become a venture partner to globally export the rapid conversion technology in association with PBARC and BioTork Hawaii.
“With this technology, farmers can turn agricultural waste into an additional revenue stream, and local production of biofuel can lower dependence on Hawaii’s import of fossil fuels,” commented Abercrombie.
“Aside from the benefit of producing biofuel, this technology has the ability to create another revenue stream for papaya and other tropical agriculture farmers. Local high protein feed production – another by-product of this process – can greatly benefit cattle, hog, chicken and aquaculture farms through competitive market pricing,” continued the Governor.
The state said that it also hopes to develop a long-term revenue generator as a partner exporting this technology and projected that it could create more than 1000 jobs at full scale.
Feedstocks
While papaya was chosen as the initial feedstock, it was claimed that the technology can be applied to any plant material as a carbon source. In Hawaii, other identifiable feedstocks are unmarketable sweet potato, sugar cane, mango, albizia and glycerol.
According to James Nakatani, executive director of the ADC, the development is a major breakthrough that focuses on key components hampering the sustainability efforts of other microorganism based biofuel projects.
“These obstacles include the high cost of feedstock. Approximately 70% of the cost for production is consumed in this area. Using unmarketable plant and other waste materials drastically reduces this cost driver,” he explained.
“While past lab projects have not translated into robust performances when scaled-up, BioTork’s solution promotes rapid and dynamic evolution of microorganisms that are robust even in ‘suboptimal’ conditions,” continued the executive director.
The project will use the research and development funds will be used for customising feedstock formulations to create a zero waste conversion technological library for Hawaii which it can export and sell to other states and countries.
Read More
Bacteria that Turn Waste to Energy in Microbial Fuel Cells Studied
Microorganisms which consume waste while generating electricity in a microbial fuel cell are being studied by researchers at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute.
First Waste to Biofuel Demonstration Plant for Abengoa
Abengoa has opened a demonstration facility which will process 25,000 tonnes per year of waste into 1.5 million litres of bioethanol in Salamanca, Spain.
A forum on incineration
Thursday, 11 April, 2013, 12:00am
Business
LAI SEE
Howard Winn howard.winn@scmp.com
A forum on incineration
Incineration is a sensitive topic these days. The government has for the moment put on hold plans to build one on the island of Shek Kwu Chau near Lantau. There has been growing opposition around the world to traditional mass burn incinerators, which many see as a threat to the environment and public health. There are those who maintain that modern incinerators are safe. Others hold that plasma gasification is a cleaner technology and safer from a public health perspective. All this and more can be discussed at a Public Forum on Thermal Technology for Waste Management in Metropolises, which is being held at the Convention and Exhibition Centre on May 7.
It’s being organised by Professor Jonathan Wong the director of the unfortunately named Sino-Forest Applied Research Centre for Pearl River Delta Environment, at Baptist University. Sino-Forest, it will be recalled, is being investigated for fraud and filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada last year.
There will be a panel of five speakers: Professor Nickolas Themelis, chair, Waste-to-Energy Research and Technology Council, US; Professor Umberto Arena, chair, Specialist Group on Waste to Energy, IWWG, Second University of Naples; Peter Simoes, technical director, Afval Energie Bedrijf, the Netherlands; Dr Lee Potts, technical manager (energy) AECOM; and Elvis Au, assistant director of Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department.
Source URL (retrieved on Apr 11th 2013, 5:18am): http://www.scmp.com/business/article/1211726/why-are-london-barristers-calling-hong-kong-treasure-island
Tonnes of foreign garbage seized in Shanghai
Beijing: Customs officials in Shanghai seized 6,000 tonnes of waste tailings in March amid a crackdown on illegally imported garbage, state media reported on Thursday.
Eight people have been detained in two cases for allegedly attempting to smuggle the tailings under fake documents that labelled them as metal ores, a customs official said.
The seizure came after officials launched “Operation Green Fence” in February.
Officials have detected excessive amounts of arsenic and cadmium from the tailings, which could have caused contamination if processed by small refineries in China, said Hu Licong, a customs official in Shanghai.
Hu said the tailings were imported mainly from countries in western Asia and eastern Europe.
Shanghai’s customs also revealed today that they have also intercepted 115 tonnes of waste tires, which China has banned from import over pollution concerns.
Launched to strengthen supervision and crack down on imports of banned waste, the campaign has seen 383 containers of foreign waste seized for violating Chinese regulations.
Customs data shows that the busy port of Shanghai handled imports of solid waste with a total value of 414 million US dollars in 2012, up 3.2 per cent year-on-year, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Chinese law on the control of solid waste bans imports that cannot be used as raw materials or be recycled by harmless means.
High profits, however, have fuelled smuggling, which is often conducted by conspiring with overseas organisations.
The great recycling con trick: How 12million tons of your carefully sorted waste is being dumped in foreign landfill sites
- Government vows to tighten inspections at ports to curb the problem
- Environment Agency orders councils to check on their contractors
- Waste sent to countries including China, Indonesia and India
PUBLISHED:21:01 GMT, 5 April 2013| UPDATED:21:01 GMT, 5 April 2013
Millions of tons of household rubbish painstakingly sorted by families for recycling is being dumped abroad.
Whitehall has admitted that waste from recycling bins is being shipped to countries including China, India and Indonesia, where much of it ends up in landfill.
In papers published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, ministers concede that what happens to the 12million tons of ‘green’ waste shipped abroad every year is largely beyond their control.
Household rubbish that has been sorted by families for recycling is being dumped in landfill sites across the world
The trade in sending rubbish abroad – mainly to Asia – has doubled over the past decade, as councils have increasingly turned to contractors to deal with mountains of waste generated by compulsory recycling schemes.
The law states that this rubbish should be recycled once it is sent abroad – but Defra now admits that in some countries it is simply dumped.
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The department, headed by Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, said it plans to tighten inspections at ports to curb the illegal trade in green waste.
Environment secretary Owen Paterson said that Defra plans to tighten inspections at ports to curb the illegal trade of green waste
The Government has always insisted that household rubbish is carefully recycled – but the Daily Mail revealed earlier this year that large amounts are deemed unusable by recycling plants, and instead sent to landfill. Now the Environment Agency has confirmed that material sent to China, Indonesia and India is also buried, rather than recycled.
As well as household rubbish, Defra admitted that other waste dumped abroad includes used tyres, sent to China, and discarded televisions and computers, which end up in West Africa.
Doretta Cocks, of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collections, said: ‘People will be very shocked by this development.
‘Most people believe their rubbish is recycled in this country. Now it turns out there are container ships coming here from China filled with televisions and computers … and going home stacked with containers filled with our recycled rubbish. That is shameful.’
The revelation comes after Defra launched a consultation with the waste industry about new recycling rules. Consultation documents concede that waste is being dumped abroad, although ‘the exact extent of illegal shipping is unknown’.
If stricter checks were introduced, the department says ‘our expectations are that the amount of waste exported illegally and then dumped in developing countries would reduce’.
The Environment Agency has asked councils to improve the quality of the recycling they collect, and to check what their contractors are doing with it.
It has told local authorities: ‘In the UK and the EU, increasing amounts of waste collected for recycling are sent overseas for reprocessing. Much of the waste collected from households … will ultimately be exported.
‘The majority of illegal waste exports we have intercepted include waste originally collected by or on behalf of local authorities via household recycling collection services.
‘We are particularly concerned about illegal exports of mixed household waste mis-described as paper or plastic. These typically derive from poorly-performing household collection and sorting systems.’
Among the rubbish that is dumped abroad used tyres are sent to China and discarded TVs and computers go to West China
The news that household recycling is being dumped in developing countries follows the admission by Defra in February that recycling claims are exaggerated.
Official figures say 43 per cent of all the household rubbish collected is recycled – but the ministry said that, in reality, processors reject most recyclable material, which then often ends up in landfill sites.
Defra has also acknowledged that the main reason for compulsory recycling schemes is not lack of landfill space or the need to combat climate change, but instead the demands of the EU’s Waste Framework Directive, the latest version of which came into force last year.
Household recycling became the norm after Tony Blair’s Labour government encouraged councils to pick up non-recyclable refuse every two weeks.
Mrs Cocks said: ‘There has always been a big question mark over the recycling movement of the past decade. I fear we are now going to come under greater pressure to produce purer materials for recycling.
‘We have not had proper rubbish collections for a decade, but I think soon we will get monthly collections.’
Defra is due to produce new plans for household ‘waste prevention’ by the end of the year.
A spokesman for the department said: ‘Trade in recyclable materials is a global market and we want to see UK businesses make money from it to help boost our economy. We would like to see our own recycling industry grow so that we can grasp this opportunity with both hands.’
■ England is set to become the only part of the UK where plastic bags are given away free of charge.
Northern Ireland will introduce a 5p plastic bag tax next week. A similar levy was imposed in Wales in October 2011, resulting in supermarkets giving away 96 per cent fewer bags.
Scotland is also pressing ahead with plans to charge for plastic bags, leaving England as the last country with no firm proposals to tackle the problem.
Last month Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons backed the Daily Mail’s Banish the Bags campaign, which calls on companies and politicians to reduce the number of plastic bags blighting our countryside and rivers.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2304773/The-great-recycling-trick-How-carefully-sorted-waste-dumped-abroad.html#ixzz2PdqJNdf6
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Process is worse than coal burning
http://www.burnabynow.com/technology/Process+worse+than+coal+burning/8199903/story.html
Study on Burnaby facility says waste incineration not just bad for air quality, but also impacts lower-income residents disproportionally
By Stefania Seccia, Burnaby NowApril 5, 2013
Burnaby’s waste-to-energy incinerator should not be expanded as it creates a demand for more waste and emits a substantial amount of greenhouse gases, according to a new study.
Closing the Loop: Reducing Greenhouse Emissions Through Zero Waste in B.C. is a new study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Wilderness Committee, which came out last week.
The closed-loop model takes a zero-waste management approach where products, such as appliances, are repaired and reused for as long as possible. Then the items are broken down into parts to be used in new products, or recycled.
Currently, Metro Vancouver incinerates its waste in Burnaby. The study states it is not only an environmental concern, but in many cases is also a social one – as low-income households live in close proximity to the incinerators, “with adverse impacts on health.”
“Incineration has appeal among policymakers because it gives the perception of making waste disappear, and can produce heat and electricity for other economic uses,” the report states. “This view is deceptive: incineration may well destroy recognizable items, but not their material basis.”
Waste never truly disappears, but turns into a new form such as ash, gas, heavy metals and toxic compounds from being burned.
B.C.’s major incinerator in Burnaby processes approximately 280,000 tonnes of waste every year and official gas emissions in 2010 was a total of about 84,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
“While Metro Vancouver has been actively promoting the idea of zero waste . its recently approved Solid Waste Management Plan puts high priority on new incineration capacity on the grounds that it diverts material waste from landfills and can generate electricity,” the report states.
Metro Vancouver’s proposed waste-to-energy facility is still in its planning stages, but is projected to handle up to 370,000 tonnes of waste per year.
“This would more than double incineration emissions,” the report states. “Over time, this investment could undermine zero-waste goals, as waste will be needed as a feedstock to power the facility for several decades.”
The report also points out that if there was a decrease in waste flow, which would normally be positive, it could lead to energy shortages.
The dependence on burning waste to create energy generates higher greenhouse gas emissions than burning natural gas, according to the report, and close to that of burning coal, “the dirtiest of fossil fuels.”
“However, if all emissions (including combustion of organic materials) are counted, incineration is worse than any fossil fuel generation, including coal,” states the report.
Another key concern with new incinerators is how they divert resources, such as funding and staff time, from otherwise seeking out alternative waste reduction activities.
“This significant opportunity cost is often ignored,” the report adds.
The study’s recommendations include the integration of greenhouse gas emissions into waste management planning, not expanding incineration capacity, requiring province-wide composting, phasing out single-use products and packaging, and banning or tightly regulating toxic or non-recyclable materials.
Marc Lee, the lead author of the study, estimates that B.C. could reduce emissions by five million tonnes, if it switches to a more aggressive reduction and recycling system by 2020.
“Zero waste means that we proactively reduce the volume of materials entering the economy in the first place, while supporting a high quality of life for consumers,” Lee states. “A good model is beer bottles, which are reused about 15 times before they are recycled due to deposit-and-return systems.”
The report was primarily funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, with support from Vancity, the Vancouver Foundation and the Pacific Institute on Climate Solutions.
It is part of the Climate Justice Project, which is a partnership between the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
For more information, visit www.pol icyalternatives.ca.
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http://www.surreyleader.com/news/201079671.html
By Jeff Nagel – Surrey North Delta Leader
Published: April 02, 2013 9:00 AM
Updated: April 02, 2013 10:19 AM
A new report urges Metro Vancouver not to build any new waste-to-energy plants and that its existing garbage incinerator in Burnaby be phased out.
Those are among the recommendations in a new study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Its paper titled “Closing the Loop” examines solid waste policy through the prism of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and encouraging green industries.
Author Marc Lee takes aim in part at Metro Vancouver’s advancing strategy of building a new waste-to-energy plant to consume 370,000 tonnes of garbage by 2018, ending the region’s use of the Cache Creek regional landfill.
The Burnaby incinerator, which burns 280,000 tonnes of waste per year, is a heavy carbon emitter even using disputed official estimates, according to the report, making it a considerably worse source of electricity than burning natural gas.
“Incineration has adverse consequences for health and GHG emissions, and requires a steady stream of waste that is inconsistent with zero waste objectives,” the report said.
In particular, it notes plastics and paper – key materials that should be diverted for recycling – contribute the most energy when burned.
“Programs that succeed in reducing waste could, perversely, be a challenge for incinerators needing to run at high enough temperatures to reduce the formation of toxic compounds.”
From a climate change perspective, it said, landfilling plastics and wood products would be preferable to incineration, because it would be a form of carbon storage, even though other strategies to reduce, reuse and recycle would be better.
Incineration doesn’t make garbage disappear, it said, noting at least 22 per cent is typically reduced to ash that still must be landfilled, while heavy metals and other toxins can escape.
“Even if energy is produced from incineration, it is uneconomic energy as it destroys useful materials that are costly to replace from virgin sources.”
The report also urges province-wide composting and a phase-out of single-use products and packaging.
Materials that are toxic or non-recyclable should be either banned or tightly regulated.
It also says B.C. needs to develop green manufacturing or reprocessing industries, but admits it will be challenging.
Public investments will be needed, it says, to support a shift away from landfills and incinerators in favour of waste reduction, reuse, repair and maintenance, and finally recycling and composting.
No estimate is provided of the public cost, but the report argues fees to landfill or incinerate garbage should be steadily increased to create an advantage for diversion.
It also notes much of what’s considered recycling is really “down-cycling” – degrading something like high-quality plastic to lower-grade uses like plastic wood.
The study admits its ultimate “closed loop” vision of a low-waste society where appliances, for example, are repaired and reused for far longer than today is at odds with an open economy that freely allows imports and exports, as well as consumers’ penchant for quickly discarding tech gadgets in favour of new models.
“Meaningful progress will be difficult,” it said, but argued changes made now will be “much less painful than if we wait for nature to impose its own limits tomorrow.”
Nineteen firms are in the running to build a new waste-to-energy plant for Metro Vancouver.
Over the next two years the regional district is to determine a preferred technology and identify potential sites.
© Copyright (c) Burnaby Now
Revivial of man-made islands makes waves
A super prison or landfill site rising out of the sea off Hong Kong is back on the agenda, and pitching planners against environmentalists
Thursday, 04 April, 2013 [Updated: 05:31] SCMP
Joyce Ng joyce.ng@scmp.com
A debate over moving prisons and landfills to artificial islands has erupted – with an engineering expert saying prime sites such as Stanley jail could be put to better use, and opponents saying they are ready to fight … again.
Former Institution of Engineers president Greg Wong Chak-yan argued that proposals for a “super prison” and waste dump on a man-made island were worth exploring again.
But Conservancy Association campaign manager Peter Lee Siu-man warned of “irreversible” loss of marine habitat.
The row followed last month’s release of the government consultation document “Enhancing land supply strategy”, which mentioned the possibility of creating man-made islands.
It said that waters between Lantau and Hong Kong Island had been identified as suitable for islands with a total area of 1,400 to 2,400 hectares, and that the land could be used for housing or for unpopular facilities.
When officials put forward similar options previously, they backed down after objections.
In the 1990s, the government planned to reclaim land east of Lantau for a container terminal. It remains on the outline zoning plan today, although the planned terminal is now set for Tsing Yi.
In 2003, the government suggested building a super prison for 7,000 inmates at Hei Ling Chau, which required reclaiming 80 hectares. The Security Bureau said then that it could release eight sites for development.
And just this January, the Institute of Urban Design called for the removal of prisons at Stanley and Pik Uk, freeing 39 hectares.
Another proposal, in 1999, was for a 700-hectare island – three times the size of Cheung Chau – to house a landfill off Lantau. There are offshore waste dumps off Tokyo and Singapore.
The prison and landfill projects were opposed by residents, green groups and some lawmakers on environmental, security and cost concerns.
Wong, a former Town Planning Board member, said a man-made island should house “nimby” – not in my backyard – facilities, rather than homes.
You need very good transport links if you build a new community there with no jobs, unless the residents have their own boats. But should we build an island for the rich?
“You need very good transport links if you build a new community there with no jobs, unless the residents have their own boats. But should we build an island for the rich?” he asked.
Wong said the cost of building a waste island would be similar to that of a normal landfill site, and technology to stop pollution heading out to sea was available.
Cheung Chau Rural Committee chairman Yung Chi-ming said that while he did not see a problem with a super prison, fishermen had already shown their objections to a waste island.
“They think a dump will affect their marine environment and in turn their catch,” he said.
Lee of the Conservancy Association said it was dangerous to delete a large piece of ocean. “Once you fill it in, it’s irreversible. The government has to consider the accumulative impact.”
Designing Hong Kong chief Paul Zimmerman said the sea around Hei Ling Chau and Peng Chau were possible reclamation areas due to their shallow waters and distance from shipping routes. “Reclamation is easy but it should only be the last resort. The government should not just walk away from problems of land abuse and lack of planning in the New Territories,” he said.
The Development Bureau said these kinds of “specialised” facilities had to be deliberated by the respective policy bureaus.
Technique produces hydrogen from landfill incinerator ash
Swedish researchers have created a way of turning ash from power stations run on landfill waste into hydrogen.
The heavy, grit-like bottom ash formed by burning rubbish is often used to cover landfills or as a construction material but gradually releases hydrogen when stored so is usually kept in the open so the gas can escape in order to avoid an explosion risk.
The scientists from Lund University have a developed a technique of dampening the bottom ash with water in an oxygen-free environment to rapidly release the hydrogen, which can then be collected and stored.
‘The ash can be used as a resource through recovery of hydrogen gas instead of being allowed to be released into the air as at present,’ said Aamir Ilyas, doctor of water resources engineering at Lund University and the developer of the technique.
‘A bonus is that this method removes the risk of hydrogen gas. It also reduces the strain on our landfill sites.’
The researchers estimate that use of this technique has the potential to generate 20 billion litres of hydrogen gas a year – 56 gigawatt-hours (GWh) worth of energy.
Hydrogen is most commonly produced from natural gas or other fossil fuels but a small proportion is now manufactured from gassifying biomass or electrolysing water.
Kenneth Persson, professor of water resources engineering and one of Ilyas’s supervisors at Lund suggested this method could contribute to the more environmentally friendly generation of hydrogen.
‘There will not be one universal solution that will be used to generate energy. We need to find a number of solutions,’ he said.
The truth about Phoenix Project trash incinerator
Port-au-Prince, HAITI, March 24 2013 – A foreign company that hopes to set up a “trash-to-electricity” incinerator in Haiti has misled the Haitian public, and perhaps Haitian authorities, with what appear to be false claims and deliberate attempts to avoid answering key questions raised in a January 22 article by the investigative journalism partnership Haiti Grassroots Watch.