[Biofuel] Waste-to-energy idea smells like success in Gold River - Victoria Times Colonist - 2006.09.19
The possibility of Gold River opening its arms to Vancouver's trash doesn't faze the up-Island village's mayor, not after running the idea through a sniff test. What Green Island Energy proposes to burn in its planned Gold River power plant is not raw garbage, but combustible waste that has been processed into bales of what amounts to dryer fluff, says Craig Anderson. And that dryer fluff means upwards of 60 permanent, high-paying jobs in a community that hasn't had a lot to cheer about since its pulp mill closed in 1999. Anderson's comments come on the heels of the news that Green Island is among 23 outfits interested in disposing of Lower Mainland waste. Green Island, you may recall, was among 38 independent power projects awarded contracts by B.C. Hydro this summer. It plans to expand the power plant at the old Gold River pulp mill site, generating electricity that would be carried along existing transmission lines. It will be a biomass waste-to-energy plant, deemed environmentally friendly because it will mostly burn wood waste (which gives off greenhouse gases if left to rot) instead of fossil fuels. Some wood will come from Western Forest Products' new log-sorting operation at the old mill site, but most will be shipped in from up and down the Pacific coast -- from construction sites, furniture manufacturers, pine-beetle residue, land clearing ... You name it on the wood side, if it has no commercial value, we can combust it, says Green Island spokesman Bruce Clark, on the phone from Vancouver. The plant will also use what's known as refuse-derived fuel -- garbage that has had the nasty bits and recyclables screened out, then been shredded, formed into pellets or cubes and compressed into three-tonne bales cloaked in shrink wrap. Like wood waste, the use of refuse-derived fuel is deemed environmentally neutral. It's a processed fuel. It's not barges full of garbage, says Clark. It's not like a garbage incinerator that burns television sets. Please banish from your mind any visions of open barges, heaped with mountains of oozing Vancouver garbage, ready to be shovelled into the gaping maw of a smoke-belching burner. GIE assured us they will not be shipping raw garbage into Gold River, says Anderson. And state-of-the-art equipment should limit smokestack emissions. It's about one fiftieth of what the pulp mill put out, and they don't have the smell. Not everyone is so sure Green Island is all that green. We're from Missouri, says Peter Ronald, provincial co-ordinator of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association. Biomass may not be dirty like coal, but what about wind power and other alternatives? Incremental efficiencies don't mean much when put in the broader energy-consumption context, he says. We've got to get off this accelerating curve of more, more, more. But Green Island maintains it offers an environmentally preferable alternative -- and keeping that status is to the company's advantage, says Clark. B.C. Hydro pays more for clean power, and Green Island anticipates being able to convert environmental certification into profits in other ways, too. Clark is one of a number of Canadian and American shareholders in Green Island. So is the pop singer Jewel, who posed for a photo-op with Premier Gordon Campbell when the Gold River proposal was made public in 2003. Jewel is less involved than she was, says Clark, but is still an investor, along with her mother, through their holding company Alternative Energy Group. Another equity partner will be named within a couple of months. We're thinking we may be able to break ground by early next year, says Clark. The Hydro contract says the plant must be open by September 2009, but Clark says it could be complete as early as the summer of 2008. It will be a while before it is decided whether Green Island will get any fuel derived from Lower Mainland garbage. The Greater Vancouver Regional District is looking for a way to dispose of trash that currently gets trucked to a Cache Creek landfill that is due to close in 2010. A GVRD request for expressions of interest elicited 23 replies this summer, including the one from Green Island. Sending clean waste to Gold River would cost the GVRD $30 a tonne, says Clark. The critical part is preparing it to our standards. All this is happening against a backdrop that has seen a variety of mostly rural communities across North America rebel at the notion of being used as dumping grounds for big-city waste. Mayor Anderson acknowledges that not everyone is thrilled with the optics of Gold River dealing with trash from the Big Smoke, even if it's just in the form of relatively clean fuel. He sees a touch of irony, though, in that Gold River itself sends its trash elsewhere: Our garbage goes to Campbell River. ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to
Walt Patrick: Re: [biofuel] waste to energy on an industrial scale
--- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, Walt Patrick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: At 03:12 PM 5/22/04 +, you wrote: Turning Waste to methanol,pig iron glass slag: The High Temperature Waste Conversion Plant A renowned German manufacturer in the waste disposal market has developed a process which converts organic and inorganic waste into valuable material. Sure sounds like Carbide's PurOx process. Anything new here? Walt --- End forwarded message ---
Re: [biofuel] waste to energy on an industrial scale
you may see some German media footage of the plant operating on our website www.untechservices.com/products I was unable to get your link to work. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] waste to energy on an industrial scale
Turning Waste to methanol,pig iron glass slag: The High Temperature Waste Conversion Plant A renowned German manufacturer in the waste disposal market has developed a process which converts organic and inorganic waste into valuable material. The system uses an innovative high-temperature fusing and gasification process. Waste material goes through a controlled pyrolysis zone, followed by a high-temperature (2000¡C) zone. The following valuable substances are produced, comparable to those mined from the earth: a) Organic components are converted into high-quality syntheses gas, commonly used in the production of methanol. b) Metal and heavy metal components are reduced and recovered as metal alloys, which can be used in the production of steel. c) Mineral components are recovered as fully vitrified masses, with the highest pollution-free rating: Z0 or Z1! These products are easily processed into construction materials such as building insulation, road gravel, etc. The gas purifying unit leaves less than 5 % remaining substance, which can be either added back into the facility, or made into stone. Typical summary of products from 1000 tons of mixed domestic waste: High-quality Methanol (approx. 600 tons) pig iron(approx.110 tons) Non-leaching vitrified slag (approx. 220 tons). Optimum environmental protection is integrated into the system: No combustion! No typical combustion by-products like ash, smoke or slag-ash mixture! No chimney! Minor demands to existing infrastructure.. High environmental neutrality, which makes large remote facilities and garbage transport unnecessary. These facilities are placed close to populated areas without problems. Waste turned into valuable products locally, in small facilities. Requirements for input material: Shredded coarsely to about 80 cm (32 inches), water content up to 50%. No pre-sorting required. Metal, stones, concrete, tires, fridges,shredded cars, oil, paints, plastics, all within sensible limits, should be put through the plant together, not sorted out. Household wastes, hazardous wastes,clinical wastes, industrial wastes and construction wastes may all be processed together. Single unit capacity: 15 ö 60,000 tons/annum. Larger plants are realized by simply combining units. This allows flexible adaptation for any capacity into a higher range (add a unit) or a lower range (sell a unit). An operating unit with 10,000 tons/year capacity can be demonstrated at the factory. you may see some German media footage of the plant operating on our website www.untechservices.com/products Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Waste of energy
Using a still to obtain ethyl alcohol as fuel takes a lot of energy. You need to bring almost to boil ten gallons of liquid to obtain one gallon of alcohol. There are some sugars in the cooked mash that are not converted to alcohol and will be discarted. Some one knows a more efficient method?. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/orkH0C/n97DAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Waste of energy
Using a still to obtain ethyl alcohol as fuel takes a lot of energy. You need to bring almost to boil ten gallons of liquid to obtain one gallon of alcohol. There are some sugars in the cooked mash that are not converted to alcohol and will be discarted. Some one knows a more efficient method?. Don't know what yeasts you're using, but I can get at least 18% alcohol by volume with Gerd Strand's TurboYeast from Sweden. Use a solar still to feed a 4-ft fractionating column and you can easily get 95% ethanol with NO energy expenditure. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/orkH0C/n97DAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [biofuel] Waste of energy
Well, you could always use a solar still, and have free energy. And why would you discard the mash? That's pretty wasteful. You should be measuring the sugar content with a sacrometer in the first place so you don't put more in than will be converted. And then the spent mash is either fed directly to hogs or cattle or dried to sell. On Wed, May 01, 2002 at 06:51:52PM -, on7tim7 wrote: Using a still to obtain ethyl alcohol as fuel takes a lot of energy. You need to bring almost to boil ten gallons of liquid to obtain one gallon of alcohol. There are some sugars in the cooked mash that are not converted to alcohol and will be discarted. Some one knows a more efficient method?. Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -- Harmon Seaver CyberShamanix http://www.cybershamanix.com Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/orkH0C/n97DAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM -~- Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[biofuel] Waste of Energy
Reason of a sort... http://www.reason.com:80/0107/ci.rb.waste.html Reason magazine -- July 2001 REASON * July 2001 Waste of Energy By RiShawn Biddle When Foster Wheeler Corp. secured financing for its $400 million trash-to-energy plant in Robbins, Illinois, the engineering concern barely contained its joy. This will be the most modern waste-to-energy installation in the world, it raved in a 1994 press release. Seven years later, the plant is in bankruptcy. Foster Wheeler lost $261 million on the misadventure. Investors who bought $321 million in bonds will be lucky to get back just 35 to 45 cents on the dollar. Another eco-bust: the BCH waste plant in Bladen County, North Carolina. Built by a group that included three local governments, the plant was shut down after its equipment failed. Banks that lent $70 million retrieved just 4 cents on the dollar. You can thank government for these uneconomical exercises. In the '70s, politicians in love with alternative energy fashioned laws to force garbage haulers in certain areas to participate and pay above-market trash disposal fees. In 1994, the Supreme Court ruled in Carbone v. Town of Clarkston that governments could no longer win customers at gunpoint. The result: 37 waste-to-energy plants have been shuttered since 1993, according to Government Advisory Associates, a Westport, Connecticut, consulting group. Taxpayer bailouts keep the rest -- about 100 -- afloat. For instance, when the McKay Bay waste plant in Tampa, Florida, couldn't pay off debt service or for upgrades, the city issued $193 million in bonds to save it. And waste fuels live on. The federal government gives a tax credit of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity produced from poultry and wood wastes, and five senators have proposed extending the credit to other biomass fuels. California has granted $57 million since 1998 to 28 firms, and the feds spent $95 million on waste-to-energy research last year. They haven't reached any breakthroughs yet. Turning smelly garbage into clean energy may sound terrific, but in practice, it turns out -- ironically -- to be wasteful. Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
