Hi Keith and all,
I'm a bit concerned that the forces for burning trash is trying to greenwash itself by tying itself to landfill gas burning. They are very different entities from the pollution generation point of view. If you have landfills they are going to produce methane anyway so it should be utilized. Methane is a greenhouse gas and probably has more impact than carbon dioxide. Burning methane to generate electricity makes sense in the context of landfills. It's cleaner burning than other fossil fuels. Burning trash to generate electricity, has been and will continue to be a bad idea. It is not a consistant or clean burning fuel. It generates dioxins and many other pollutants. The ash still requies a landfill. They produce tons of small particulates each year. Just say no to this union.
Tom
From: Keith Addison [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: biofuel@sustainablelists.org
Sent: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 01:00:07 -0200
Subject: [Biofuel] Forces Join Behind Waste-based Energy
From: Waste News, Oct. 9, 2006
<http://www.precaution.org/lib/06/prn_waste-based_energy_plan.061009.h
tm>[Printer-friendly version]
Forces Join Behind Waste-based Energy
By Joe Truini
It's the birth of a new partnership, and a new term, to boot.
Several waste industry groups, along with a professional and a
governmental organization, have formed a loose coalition to promote
recovering energy from waste, what they call waste-based energy.
The coalition wants to educate lawmakers and the public that waste
provides a vast amount of resources to generate energy and that there
is a distinction among the various technologies, said Ted Michaels,
president of the Integrated Waste Services Association, which
represents the waste-to-energy industry.
"To avoid some confusion, we wanted to make it clear that there was a
whole universe of waste-based energy," he said. "Federal and state
policy makers ought to look at developing a full range of incentives
to encourage waste-based energy projects."
Such projects not only include burning waste to create electricity,
or waste-to-energy, but other means of converting waste to energy,
such as capturing landfill gas.
"The energy capacity available from solid waste is largely untapped,"
said John Skinner, executive director and CEO of the Solid Waste
Association of North America.
Joining SWANA and the ISWA in the partnership are the National Solid
Wastes Management Association, the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
But the coalition's efforts simply distract from real waste
management and energy-saving solutions such as waste prevention,
reduction and recycling, said Monica Wilson of the Global Alliance
for Incinerator Alternatives.
And pushing waste-to-energy and landfill gas projects under the
umbrella of renewable energy takes away from other sources such wind
and solar power, Wilson said.
"It just sounds like an attempt to take advantage of America's
growing concern over energy costs," she said. "I'd say these folks
are trying to move us in the wrong direction."
But waste-based energy not only provides reliable and affordable
energy, it also can lessen the cost of waste management services for
cities, said Tom Cochran, executive director of the U.S. Conference
of Mayors.
The coalition has not developed an action plan but will work with
Congress, federal agencies, state governments and private companies
to promote waste-based energy. Its goal is to increase incentives and
investment in the industry.
"We are certainly interested in keeping our eyes open on the Hill for
opportunities," Michaels said. "It's a matter of educating folks and
letting them know that there is an awful lot of energy that can be
tapped in the waste stream."
The nation's 89 waste-to-energy plants have total power generation
capacity of nearly 2,700 megawatts, about 20 percent of all renewable
energy.
Contact Waste News reporter Joe Truini at (330) 865-6166 or
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
_______________________________________________
Biofuel mailing list
Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org
Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages):
http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
_______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org
Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
