"With only four operating Waste to Energy facilities in the country, Canada in general and Ontario in particular has lagged behind both Europe and the United States"

Waste to Energy (WTE)

6 May 2007

• Policy Paper authored by the London Chamber Federal/Provincial Affairs Committee and the Ontario Chamber Energy Committee
• Approved by the London Chamber Board of Directors in February 2007
• Presented to and approved by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce at the conference in May 2007

Waste to Energy (WTE): An Electric Solution to Waste Management

The Issue

Ontario is missing the untapped value of Energy from Waste (EFW) technologies, which use residential and commercial waste to generate electricity and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites. As part of an integrated waste management system, EFW is a viable alternative to landfills.

Only three per cent of Canada's solid waste is processed to generate electricity, compared to thirteen per cent in the US. It is time now for Ontario communities to start considering a solution.

Background

Energy recovery from Waste describes the process in which energy is recovered from the combustion of waste, and used to generate electricity, which is then fed back into the electricity grid, or provide both electricity and heat (combined heat and power) to nearby communities or other uses. Wastes represent an increasingly important fuel source. Using wastes as fuel can have two fold benefits: maintaining a cleaner environment and providing an alternative energy source for the local economy.

Waste may be in the form of an individual waste stream, generally from a commercial or industrial activity, which is used in existing plant as a fuel; it may be the residue once recyclables are separated from a general waste stream; or it may be a specially produced refuse-derived fuel (RDF) which must meet certain standards to be burnt in certain plants such as cement kilns or, potentially, power station furnaces.

Today there have been developed some innovative technologies, which have the potential to increase the efficiency of energy recovery. Besides, ETW facilities can reduce the volume of a landfill site by 90% and reduce the weight of solid waste by 70%. Fly ash produced by a WTE facility can be re-used for landfill cover, road-base, or other such construction materials.

The environmental benefit of EFW generation is that it can help reduce CO2 emissions, through displacement of fossil fuels that are 23 times more damaging than CO2 for global warming. If biodegradable waste is diverted from landfill, methane emissions can be avoided.

New energy-from-waste plants give off no odour, effectively dispose of garbage that would otherwise go to landfills, and generate considerable amounts of eco-friendly electricity, and sometimes steam as a by-product. Although new technologies still generate some emissions, their level is substantially lower compared to older technologies.

A number of well-established technologies are available for generating heat or power from wastes: combustion with energy recovery, thermal technologies, gasification, pyrolysis, anaerobic digestion, pelletization, thermal cracking, etc.

EXAMPLES OF ENERGY FROM WASTE TECHNOLOGIES*

Combustion with energy recovery - Energy from combustion technology decreases the volume of the municipal waste and allows for recovery of metals and other potentially recyclable fractions. Plants that generate electricity can typically process between 20,000 and 600,000 tonnes of waste per year, generating from 1 to 40 MW of electricity. Power is produced from wastes by using the steam raised in the combustion process to drive a steam turbine to generate electricity, in a similar manner to a conventional coal fired power station.

Any residue that is landfilled is biologically inactive and does not generate potentially harmful emissions. The heat recovered from these plants can be used to generate electricity, or can be used for industrial heat applications, where there is a market for the heat.

Advanced thermal technologies - Where the waste stream is of a uniform nature, for example if it has been processed into a homogenous fuel, it is better suited to the more "advanced technologies", such as gasification or pyrolysis. Wastes that are not uniform in composition, for example municipal wastes, are less suited to treatment by advanced technology, although the technology is rapidly developing to handle more challenging wastes.

Gasification - Gasification is a thermo-chemical process in which biomass is heated, in an oxygen deficient atmosphere to produce a low-energy gas containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane. The gas can then be used as a fuel in a turbine or combustion engine to generate electricity. Gasifiers fuelled by fossil sources such as coal have been operating successfully for many years, but they are now increasingly being developed to accept more mixed fuels, including wastes. New gas clean-up technology ensures that the resulting gas is suitable to be burnt in a variety of gas engines, with a very favourable emissions profile.

Pyrolysis - Pyrolysis is an emerging technology, sharing many of the characteristics of gasification. With gasification partial oxidation of the waste occurs, whilst with pyrolysis the objective is to heat the waste in the complete absence of oxygen. The pyrolysis technology converts virtually all hydrocarbon waste streams (including tires, hospital waste, and carbon based waste) into highly purified virgin hydrocarbon and advanced material nanocarbons. Gas, olefin liquid and char are produced in various quantities. The gas and oil can be processed, stored and transported, if necessary and combusted in an engine, gas turbine or boiler.

Anaerobic digestion

The biological processes that take place in a landfill site can be harnessed in a specially designed vessel known as an anaerobic digester to accelerate the decomposition of wastes. Anaerobic digestion is typically used on wet wastes, such as sewage sludge or animal slurries but the biodegradable fraction of municipal wastes can be added to wetter wastes to increase the biogas output. The biogas can then be used in an engine or turbine for power generation, or used to provide heat for industrial processes situated near the landfill site, such as in a brickworks.

Pelletization - The technology allows processing of Municipal Solid Waste by selecting appropriate materials to mix with purchased high BTU materials in the production of a high BTU pellet that can be used either to replace coal or coke in industrial processes, or for use in an acceptable combined combustion/gasification and local energy recovery system the manufacture.

*NOTE: The EFW technologies are not limited to the ones described above.

The air emissions from EFW plants as compared to traditional use of fossil fuels are also significantly cleaner. For example, the table below shows use of trash to generate one megawatt of power instead of coal:

(source: www.wte.org)

Canada in general and Ontario in particular has lagged behind both Europe and the United States in the development of ETW sites. Historically, Ontario has enjoyed relatively low energy costs and ample room to locate landfill sites, both factors being impediments to the development of ETW facilities. However, with growing concern over the environment, an integrated waste management system, including recycling and ETW facilities, should be given greater priority as a viable and responsible solution.

There are only a few EFW plants in operation in Canada. The Brampton facility, Ontario, operated by Algonquin Power Energy From Waste Inc., burns 500 tonnes of waste a day and generates up to 15 megawatts of electricity. In Burnaby, just outside Vancouver, French-owned Veolia ES Waste-to-Energy Inc. operates a plant for the municipality that burns about 720 tonnes a day and feeds the electricity it generates to the electrical grid. There are two other small plants in Quebec City and Charlottetown.

Many EFW facilities have been closed for different reasons including the London and Hamilton Waste to Energy plants. Several municipalities -- including Vancouver, Ottawa and several regional municipalities in the Toronto area -- are considering new energy-from-waste plants.

The planning process is under way in Halton region, just west of Toronto, where the municipal government is starting to look at the business case for a new garbage-burning power plant. Durham, and York regions are assessing their options on waste disposal and energy recovery.

Development of new EFW facilities is a burdensome and lengthy process. The approval process may take years. The EFW projects also require of companies to acquire permits, comply with environmental standards, make financial arrangements and deal with the NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) concerns from residents. The process gets even more cumbersome because future facilities must acquire also contracts with municipalities on waste supply and connect to the local power grid.

Acknowledging the challenge, the government approved in March 2007 a streamlined environmental assessment and waste management approval procedure (O. Reg. 101/07) for small energy to waste projects that could save municipalities up to 18 months.

In order to deal with the public concern over the location of EFW sites, EFW facilities should be located in existing landfill sites especially where an energy consumer is located in close proximity to the EFW facility or a grid connection is readily accessed.

EFW facilities should be constructed and financed under public private partnerships not unlike Infrastructure Ontario in order to achieve design, quality and cost consistencies across the Province.

Government policy consistency is crucial as the approval process for new EFW facilities may be carried over several government mandates. Larger EFW plants could cost as much as $500 million. At the same time, government has recognized the benefits associated with these plants, considering the rising costs of shipping and disposing of waste, the pressure to diminish emissions to the environment and the untapped capacity of alternative electricity going into the grid.

The government's recent Energy Directive on Ontario's supply mix has emphasized concerns over the future security and diversity of the energy resources which are used to generate power. Energy from Waste plants could play a limited, but increased role in generating electricity and providing heat to communities and a practical waste disposal solution. With fossil fuel prices rising in recent years, the attractiveness of an Energy From Waste component of the portfolio is likely to grow.

Recommendations

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce urges the Government of Ontario to:

1. Review by 2008-2009 the experience in other jurisdictions and, considering the environmental and economic efficiency, estimate what of the available Energy from Waste technologies (combustion with energy recovery, advanced thermal technologies, gasification, pyrolysis, anaerobic digestion, pelletization, etc) have the highest rate of return for Ontario.
2. Assess the costs of erecting EFW facilities and estimate the benefits for Ontario by considering the environmental effects, avoided waste disposal, land filling/development costs and promotion of alternative energy generation.
3. Assess increasing the share of the efficient Energy from Waste generation technology in the supply mix and develop by 2010-2011 an integrated waste management plan, prioritizing on EFW.
4. Educate the public on the importance of 5-Rs: (1) Reduce (waste, packaging etc); (2) Reuse (beer bottles, etc.); (3) Recycle (new product from waste ie: sewer pipe from used car dashboards etc); (4) Recover (energy, oil); and (5) Retain (landfill issues). Also educate Ontarians of the importance and safety of advanced EFW technology for their communities.
5. Commit to create a stable streamlined regulatory environment, an electricity market guided by prices reflecting true costs of power and pursue consistent EFW policies.
6. Stimulate development of EFW facilities, where appropriate and strategically feasible at existing landfill sites.
7. Engage private sector in the development, construction and financing of WTE facilities.

*U.S. EPA & O. Reg. 419

← Return to reference library