Transcript Document

The Benefits of Making Energy from Waste
MWMA Conference
2007 Fall Summit
Derek A. Porter
September 20, 2007
Global Challenges
• Today, we face numerous environmental &
economic challenges:
– Population growth and associate waste disposal needs
– Global Warming
– Dependence on fossil fuels
• There is a common solution for
all of these challenges.
Energy-from-Waste (EfW) provides:
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Safe, economic waste disposal
Greenhouse gas reduction
Renewable energy
Resource Management
Energy from WasteThe Greener Solid Waste
Disposal Option
Growing Waste Problem
• In the US an increasing
amount of trash is buried in
Landfills:
– Waste generation has
increased by over a third in
the past 25 years in the U.S.
alone.
– Recycling efforts have not
been able to keep pace with
the increased generation of
trash.
• The EU has addressed waste
disposal with a directive that
requires reduction of landfilling
raw garbage
Proliferation of MSW
Municipal Solid Waste in U.S. (in millions of tons)
245.7
250
200
151.6
150
100
58.4
50
14.5
0
1980
2005
MSW Generation
Recycling Recovery
Source: Municipal Solid Waste in the U.S. 2005 Facts & Figures
Executive Summary; Table ES02 (October 2006).
How EfW Is Part of the Solution
The new (Dec 2006) USEPA
hierarchy identifies four tiers in
descending order of preference:
1. Source reduction
2. Recycling or composting
3. Combusted with energy
recovery (EfW)
4. Landfill or incineration without
energy recovery
EfW & Recycling
• Covanta supports “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”
at our WTE facilities.
• Communities with EfW facilities have a recycling rate
that is on average 18% higher than the national
average – 33% vs. 28%
• EfW recycles ferrous and non-ferrous materials
– More than 773,000 tons of ferrous metal is recovered annually
from WTE facilities
– Combining all onsite WTE recycling, U.S. WTE facilities recycle
almost 1,672,000 tons.
Energy from Waste-
Providing Clean
RENEWABLE
Power
Only 2% of U.S. electricity comes from renewable
sources.
Energy-from-Waste: One piece of the global warming solution
249 Million tons
of trash (MSW)
goes to
landfills
Landfills
That’s an average of only 20
kilowatt hours of electricity
per ton of waste
EfW
29 Million tons
of trash goes to
EfW
Renewable Energy Generated
from Landfills - 5 billion kWh
Renewable energy generated from
EfW Facilities - 15 billion kWh
That’s 520 kilowatt hours of
electricity per ton of waste
Reduces Dependence on Fossil Fuels
• Displaces fossil fuel generation and related emissions
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DOE states that EfW makes “important contributions to the overall effort to achieve increased
renewable energy use and the many associated positive environmental benefits.”
For every ton of MSW processed in a EfW facility, it eliminates the need for importing one
barrel of oil or burning ¼ ton of coal.
Comments on NYC’s Solid Waste Management Plan, December 2004. Columbia
University Integrated Waste management Systems Earth Engineering Center
• WTE is Clean, Reliable, Renewable Energy
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Inexhaustible stream of MSW is renewable.
Recovery of the energy component of MSW is better than burying it in a landfill and
contributing to methane production.
Recovery of ferrous and nonferrous is an important process that facilitates recycling and
energy savings
Most current renewable power sources in use can only operate under certain conditions
(Solar, Wind, Hydro).
EfW is able to operate and produce energy 24/7 and is sold as “base-load” electricity. It is
PROVEN TECHNOLOGY!
Energy from Waste-
A Net REDUCER of
Greenhouse Gases
Solid Waste Management’s Impact on Global
Warming – the National Snapshot
Sources of Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide and methane are the two major GHGs
causing global warming
(IPCC 2001, 2007) Nitrous Oxide
(N2O)
6%
Commercial
18%
Halocarbons
13%
Methane (CH4)
18%
Transportation
33%
Carbon Dioxide
(CO2)
63%
Carbon dioxide and methane together are 81% of
GHG’s
Residential
21%
Industrial
28%
Methane is 23 times more potent than Carbon
Dioxide
Reduction of both is required
40 % of carbon dioxide is from fossil fuel
combustion for electricity (EPA 2004)
Landfills are the largest source of man-made
methane, a gas 23 times more potent than CO2.
Global Roundtable on Climate Change
• Large group of diverse organizations participated in the
Global Roundtable on Climate Change (GROCC)
– 2 years of work will soon culminate in sustainability statement
• Pending GROCC climate sustainability statement
recognizes WTE as a mitigating technology
– “De-carbonization can be achieved in two ways. The first is to
increase the use of non-fossil-fuel-based energy sources.
Potential options here include wind, solar, geothermal, hydro,
tidal, wave, nuclear, waste-to-energy and/or biomass.”
– “Efforts to reduce global emissions of methane from landfills
should be expanded, including increased use of waste-to-energy
facilities where appropriate and cost-effective.”
The EfW Solution Helping to Fight Climate Change
• Helping To Fight Global Warming
– Reduces Greenhouse Gas emissions
• Offsets methane emissions from landfills.
• On a nationwide basis, nearly one ton LESS of CO2e is released
into the air due to avoided land disposal, fossil fuel power generation
and metals production, for every ton of trash combusted in modern
EfW facility (1)
• EfW annually avoids 33 million metric tons of CO2 that would
otherwise be released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels to
generate electricity. (1)
• EPA: EfW has “less environmental impact than almost any other
source of electricity”
• EPA moved EfW above landfills on its hierarchy
(1)
According to EPA’s Municipal Solid Waste Decision Support Tool.
Energy from WasteCOVANTA’S Role
Leader in U.S. Waste Disposal and Renewable
Electricity
Solar 1%
Wind 16%
Geothermal 16%
Wood &
Other Biomass
45%
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32 Waste-to-Energy Facilities
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6 Wood Waste Facilities
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5 Landfill Gas Facilities
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15 Million Tons of Waste Safely Disposed
Of Annually
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Over 5% of the Nation’s Waste Disposal
Re cycling &
Com pos iting
32%
Was te -to-Ene rgy
14%
Landfill 54%
Waste-to-Energy
23%
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7,800 GWh Produced from Covanta
Operated Facilities
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Nearly 10% of Nation’s Renewable
Electricity
Annual U.S Renewable Generation = 88,000 GWh
Source: US Department of Energy, Energy
Information Administration 2004 Report
Annual U.S Waste Disposal = 245,000,000 Tons
Source: US EPA Basic Facts
(www.epa.gov/msw/facts.htm)
Covanta’s modern EfW facilities:
• Produce a combined total of 7,800 Gigawatts hours
of renewable electricity per year, which creates
enough energy to power the homes in the city of
Philadelphia.
• Serve the waste disposal needs of approximately
12 million people in communities across the
United States.
• Reduces the need for fossil fuels, saving the
equivalent of 15 million barrels of oil each year.
Covanta’s modern EfW facilities:
• Recover and recycle 360,000 tons of metals —
enough to manufacture 275,000 hybrid cars
each year.
• Reduces GHG emissions by avoiding methane
from landfills.
• Have a worldwide presence, with facilities in
Europe and China.
Covanta’s Low NOx Technology
• New technology reduces NOx emission well below EPA
requirements and IMPROVES ENERGY EFFICIENCY
• Covanta LN system can be added to existing boilers to
reduce NOx to current limits with out ammonia
injection. Emission can be reduced to half the current
regulatory limit with ammonia injection.
• Covanta VLN technology can be used on new units
and can reduce NOx to even lower emission than the
Covanta LN technology.
Energy from Waste Renewed Interest
Facility Expansions
• Hillsborough County, Florida —
commenced construction January 2007
– 600 tons per day expansion to a total capacity of 1200 tons per day.
– 14 MW addition renewable energy
– Extended operating agreement between County and Covanta until
2027
• Lee County, Florida —begin operating in
August 2007
– 636 tons per day expansion
– 14 MW additional renewable energy
– Extended operating agreement between Count and Covanta until
2024
Request for Proposals for EfW
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Frederick, Carroll, Harford Counties, MD
Honolulu, HI
Regional Municipality of Durham, Canada
Los Angeles, CA
The EfW Solution Local Benefits
• EfW allows for a self sustaining community
– Clean renewable power is produced in the
community
– Safe and sustainable local waste disposal
– Truck traffic is reduced
– Jobs are created in the community
• The WTE industry employs over 6,000 people in high paying
jobs
• Each WTE facility purchases significant amounts of local
goods and services each year
– Lowest cost long-term waste disposal option in
highly populated area
Summary of EfW Technology
EfW is a specially designed energy generation facility that uses household
waste as fuel and helps solve some of society’s big challenges
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Population growth
Safe, reliable waste disposal
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Climate change
Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
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Dependence on fossil fuels
Clean, renewable electricity
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Resource management
Recover metal for recycling
Summary of EfW Benefits
• Global – Helps fight Global Warming by
reducing landfill methane gas emissions
• National –Reduces dependence of fossil fuel by
reliably generating clean, renewable energy
• Local – Creates local jobs and provides
sustainable waste disposal
IT’S NOT WASTE IF IT IS ENERGY