Asia Transformation and Turnaround

"The Asia Transformation and Turnaround Association (ATTA) is a membership organisation of experienced international professionals providing business transformation and turnaround management services in Asia."

Allard Nooy has been qualified under the formal accreditation process by the Asia Transformation and Turnaround Association (ATTA). This is a membership organization of experienced international professionals providing business transformation and turnaround management services in Asia.

Asian companies are becoming global companies. In the process, they will run into unfamiliar challenges and need the advice of experienced transformation and turnaround professionals. One of the key roles of Markland is to support the evolution of Asian global business and share their experiences in global problem solving.

Power & Renewables

There is a need in the developing economies for generation from any and all sources, including both thermal and renewable technologies. In developed economies, companies are increasingly in search of knowledgeable equity capital to fund their continued growth or recapitalization of their balance sheets.

In Asia there are opportunities in thermal power generation (gas, coal or diesel-fueled) and renewable power (wind, solar, hydro, geothermal waste to energy and biomass).

At Markland we have Power and Renewables experience with extensive operational and investment experience spanning project life time cycles and company evolution stages throughout the regulated and deregulated international power sectors. We are able to originate and assess opportunities across the region and enable management teams to execute on targets.

Surging global demand for energy and resources promises growth for the power and renewables sector worldwide. Over the next two decades, it's estimated the global electricity sector will need more than $17 trillion of investments, with about half of this required for power generation. Approximately 80% of new generation capacity requirements will come from non-OECD countries (developing economies). While thermal generation sources will continue to play a significant role, due to the aim of overall carbon foot print reduction, renewable energy sources will gain in competitiveness and grow significantly as costs fall and efficiencies increase.

The on the ground Asian experience at Markland with both thermal power generation as well as renewables is extensive in particular from an owner / operator perspective.

Powering Ahead: 2010

This report provides an insight into the global M&A activity in renewable energy. The findings are based on a survey of over 250 senior executives active in the renewable energy industry worldwide. The survey and report were written in collaboration with VB/Research, a specialist renewable energy research and data provider. Transaction data and statistics included in the report have been extracted directly from VB/Research’s databases.The KPMG publication provides an insight into the global M&A activity in renewable energy. The findings are based on a survey of over 250 senior executives active in the renewable energy industry worldwide.

Allard Nooy said:
“The central Government in China has committed to significant renewable energy generation targets. By 2010, 10 percent of the total energy generation mix is expected to come from renewable energy sources”.
Read the full .pdf

Asia will need private sector assistance to develop its water, energy and waste infrastructure.

In the Asia-Pacific region private sector focus is shifting to more water, energy and waste treatment infrastructure, as in a rapidly growing market Asian governments struggle to shoulder the entire cost burden of development. Asian nations have spent trillions of dollars on transportation infrastructure in the hopes of boosting the region’s trade. Thus far infrastructure has been primarily paid for by governments.

However even with its high-speed rails and expansive highways, however, many of China’s cities still lack basic water and waste treatment systems. The country does not even have a unified electricity grid. Other Asian countries are in similar straits. India’s energy grid has been known to collapse for days at a time, and even developed nations like Japan and Australia face funding hurdles with government deficits and the sheer scale of infrastructure projects.

We at Markland can assist investors, owners / operators in infrastructure development to tap into these opportunities and to generate above average returns for shareholders.

Some nations have already started to turn to the private sector. Japan’s two Osaka airports, for example, are looking to raise as much as $15 billion from a private operator to run them for about 50 years. If this bid is successful, this predicts that Japan’s government deficits will encourage much more privatization.

India is also pushing through a $1 trillion, five-year infrastructure investment plan that relies primarily on the public-private partnership model. The Indian government is hoping the private sector will shoulder around 50 percent of the cost, with projects primarily focused on energy, water and transportation.

There is clearly an opportunity for the government and the private sector to come together in more innovative and effective ways to build, finance and improve existing infrastructure.

At Markland we have on the ground experience and deep knowledge of the development and implementation of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and other contractual models including:

• Build Operate Own and Transfer (BOOT) projects
• Design Build and Operate (DBO) projects
• Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) + Operation & Maintenance (O&M) projects

For Asian economies this critical if they are to meet their GDP growth and social equality targets, for the private sector it presents huge opportunity. This is where Markland comes in as we assist our Clients with a hands-on approach. Our 20 years+ on the ground experience in Asia has proven to be beneficial to those who are entering emerging markets and/or diversifying into new utility and infrastructure markets.

“Meeting global infrastructure demand comes with a huge price tag. The question remains who’s going to pay for it?” 

The combination of governments’ need and investors warming up to the asset class spells opportunity for governments to tap into these nontraditional sources.

Some nations have already started. Japan’s two Osaka airports, for example, are looking to raise as much as $15 billion from a private operator to run them for about 50 years. If this bid is successful, this predicts that Japan’s government deficits will encourage much more privatisation.

India is also straining to push through a $1 trillion, five-year infrastructure investment plan that relies primarily on the public-private partnership model. The Indian government is hoping the private sector will shoulder around 50 percent of the cost, with projects primarily focused on energy, water and transportation.

There is clearly an opportunity for the government and the private sector to come together in more innovative and effective ways to build, finance and improve existing infrastructure.

We must find a way to make this work in Asia Pacific if our economies are to meet their GDP growth forecasts and social equality targets.

Water

The water industry in Asia is a growing market. The team at Markland Infrastructure Asia adds value to Clients given the experience from both ‘an owner and operator’ as well as an ‘Engineering Procurement and Construction Contractor’s point of view.In Asia, the experience has been gained from Senior Executive positions at Thames Water International, Jindal Water Infrastructure (JITF Aquasource) and Vermeer Ballast Nedam.

The experience and successful track record includes 20 years in Asia with both Public and Private sector Clients in the following areas:

• Municipal water treatment
• Municipal water transmission, supply and distribution
• Municipal waste water treatment
• Sewage sludge treatment facilities
• Industrial water treatment (Ultra Filtration and Reverse Osmoses)
• Industrial wastewater treatment

And in the following contractual formats and models:

• Public Private Partnerships (PPP)
• Build Operate Own and Transfer (BOOT)
• Design Build and Operate (DBO)
• Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC)
• Operation and Maintenance (O&M)
• Acquisitions

H.A.T.S. Hong Kong

Waste Management

The waste management market and private sector participation in the industry in Asia is growing. The team at Markland Infrastructure Asia adds value to Clients given the experience from both ‘an owner and operator’ as well as an ‘Engineering Procurement and Construction Contractor’s point of view.

The track record includes 20 years in Asia in Municipal Solid Waste Management and disposal and in the following areas:

• Municipal Solid Waste Sanitary Landfills
• Sanitary landfill with biogas extraction and energy recovery systems
• Anaerobic digestion, bio-reactors, waste to biogas conversion
• Composting facilities
• Waste transfer stations
• Waste to Energy (WtE) or Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities

And in the following contractual formats and models:

• Public Private Partnerships (PPP)
• Build Operate Own and Transfer (BOOT)
• Design Build and Operate (DBO)
• Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC)
• Operation and Maintenance (O&M)
• Acquisitions

The need for water related services and Public Private Partnerships

The United Nations estimates that there are over 1 billion people in the world who do not have adequate access to a safe water supply and over 2 billion who do not have adequate access to wastewater services. These people are often the poorest in society. The World Health Organization estimates that improving access to adequate water and wastewater services would reduce diarrhea disease by between one-quarter and one-third and deliver very real public health benefits in reducing the incidence of cholera, typhoid and other waterborne diseases.

Quite apart from the human cost of waterborne disease, water is central to sustainable development and solving water problems means progress across all pillars of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. The toll of premature deaths and workdays lost to sickness, combined with the effective exclusion of many women from economic activity because of the burdens of water collection, erodes the economic gains made through public and private investments in education and other public services.

Worldwide an estimated investment of up to US$100 billion a year is needed in the water sector, in addition to current expenditure of US$80 billion a year, given the growing needs in the water and wastewater infrastructure and the growing population. The scale of the task is so great that the necessary additional investment is unlikely to come from public funds alone, due to competing priorities for public spending and constraints on public sector borrowing.

Former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan has made it clear that continued private sector involvement in access to funding would be essential. At present, a little over 5% of the world's water and wastewater services are provided by the private sector. However, despite the pressing need for new or improved infrastructure practical examples of consideration of Private Sector Participation (PSP) as an option remain very low.

The problem which a number of Asian countries are facing requires changes in the climate of opinion, coupled with institutional capacity building. In this respect MARKLAND Infrastructure Asia Co. Limited can engage at National level and through debates with multilateral agencies, the public and privates sector also at Water specific conferences. We will try to setting - not just following – an agenda, so that increasingly basic water and sanitation can be provided in the form of Public Private Partnerships.

H.A.T.S. Hong Kong

IWA World Water Day

Defining the concept of Private Sector Participation in the Water and Waste Water Sector

Private Sector Participation in the water and wastewater sector provides a vehicle for communities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of water and wastewater services while retaining public control of the resource itself, of the service prices and standards, and of the tangible assets themselves if they so choose.

Our view is that Private Sector Participation (PSP) is a solutions-oriented concept with a variety of possible expressions. The particular form that any given PSP scheme may take will vary according to local needs and circumstances, but what all the different potential PSP solutions have in common is that each one can contribute powerfully to sustainable development through improvements in public health and economic growth.

PSP essentially involves publicly accountable bodies working with one or more private enterprises to provide a specific service or set of services for the common good. In all cases, a transparent and reliable ‘enabling environment’ is required, including mature local political, judicial, regulatory and financial systems. And it goes without saying that contracts should only be awarded on the basis of fair competition or comparison.

In the water sector, all PSP schemes are designed to meet, in the long-term, the needs of all members of a specific community for safe water provision and wastewater removal at a fair and affordable price. In seeking to deliver these benefits, public bodies can choose to use the private sector to share risks, bring investment, provide managerial expertise or obtain world-class scientific and technical resources.

There are endless different combinations of win-win solutions existing for public bodies to choose from. This is recognized by the UN stating that "private companies can add value by bringing specialized management experience and large-scale financing to situations where these are lacking."

The possible forms that a PSP scheme might take include:

• Simple contracting out of certain services
• Operation and maintenance of current infrastructure without new investment
• Private sector assistance with investment in new, publicly-owned infrastructure
• Specially-created joint venture
• Build Operate Own and Transfer schemes
• Concessions of both existing tangible assets as well creating new assets etc.

At one end of the spectrum projects could be implemented under Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) contracts followed by long term Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Contracts.

Current bureaucratic and market failures

Many suppliers of water and wastewater services in the public sector do not recover even the basic costs of their services. This can lead to a downward spiral because low cost recovery produces insufficient income to fund required investment (in infrastructure and in people), which in turn leads to poor service levels (in terms of both the quantity and quality of water services), which may lead to even lower levels of cost recovery.

Cost recovery does not equate to profit: It means recouping all of the costs associated with the provision of the service, acknowledging the instruments that have allowed the service to be formed in the first instance.

Infrastructure development, particularly in rural locations, remains scarce and existing infrastructure often deteriorates through under-investment. However Private Sector Participation has the potential to halt and reverse this downward spiral through reduced costs, affordable tariffs, improved cost recovery and management change. In particular at concessions with an existing asset base, the result of a successfully implemented PSP solution is planned annual investment through good management, adequate cost recovery and appropriate tariff charges to produce sufficient income for yet more planned annual investment.

Balancing tariffs, access and shareholder returns

The price of water in most parts of Asia is often less than the real cost of the water supply. In the long-term, the delivery of sustainable water and wastewater services cannot be achieved without adequate cost recovery mechanisms. However, affordability can only be addressed through, amongst other mechanisms, continuing grant funding or subsidies for vulnerable sections of the community in the medium term.

Often the poorest people in the community are not connected to any utility services and end up paying the most for their water because they are wholly dependent on informal commercial vendors. Women and girls, in particular, often miss out on educational and economic opportunities because they have to spend hours collecting water every day. However, there are numerous ways to build social protection into Private Sector Participation schemes. Indeed, services may be subsidized for ‘essential use’ by all community members or just for low-income groups, with progressive tariffs for each unit of additional, ‘non-essential’ service use.

Valuing Water Properly

Cost recovery, or water pricing, is one of the most sensitive and most significant issues in the water sector. Cost recovery affects water services that are owned and operated entirely by public bodies, not just private sector partners. Many public bodies have failed to provide adequate services because water is free or under-priced, tariffs are not enforced and no funds exist to maintain existing infrastructure. The cost recovery principle simply means that the total cost of providing safe water and wastewater services should be met in full by consumers, possibly including public subsidy for essential use by low-income households. This creates a ‘virtuous circle’ of fair payments, investment and good service.

Where private sector partners are involved, they will need to make a fair and reasonable profit, at least in the medium to long term, in addition to recovering their costs. The cost recovery principle is conceptually different to the issue of profitability, but it is widely recognized that profitability is a legitimate and necessary aspect of the economic dimension of sustainable development. Indeed, a carefully crafted PSP contract, together with the wider regulatory framework, should create a direct link between efficiency savings that keep costs down on the one hand and the amount of profit to be made on the other hand.

There is a strong case for the benefits that a well-constructed PSP arrangement can bring to a community in terms of the financial and environmental elements of sustainable development. Clearly, the appropriate harnessing of private sector capital, technology and managerial expertise can contribute towards the better stewardship of a vital natural resource and also provide a stronger foundation for sustained economic activity. But if this is achieved at the expense of the social element of sustainable development, perhaps because access has not been extended to certain neighborhoods or because poorer sections of the community cannot afford the tariffs that have been set by local politicians and regulators, then this flies in the face of the spirit of sustainability.

However, politicians and regulators can use a variety of policy tools to protect the interests of vulnerable groups. We are therefore convinced that there is no reason, in principle, for Private Sector Participation to conflict with social justice.

Waste Water and Water re-use Technological and managerial expertise – opportunities in Asia

There are opportunities in Asia for municipal waste water reuse schemes. These schemes can treat and bring the effluent to a quality suitable for industrial use. There are also opportunities for water efficiency programs with new Non Revenue Water (NRW) practices and technologies.

Conclusion - successful, sustainable PSP projects

Water is vital to sustain human life and access to safe water and to effective sanitation services should be considered a basic human right for all. However, it is not possible to view water purely as a social good because, as the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development has made clear, water is a resource and needs to be considered as an economic commodity as well. We at MARKLAND Infrastructure Asia believe that it is the right and the responsibility of governments (whether local, state or national) to decide whether they wish to invite private companies to join them in their efforts to provide adequate and affordable water and wastewater services to their people.

PSP can play an important part and reinforce other development processes for poverty reduction and sustainable development. Links to poverty reduction strategies (PRSPs), national strategies for sustainable development, regional and national frameworks for action, and water action programs are important. Implementation should also maximize the use of existing knowledge, methods and best practices. The exclusion of the private sector is not an option; the question should be: how can the private sector be involved in ensuring that the poor benefit? We believe that the private sector can contribute powerfully to the targets as set to deliver sustainable and expended water supply to municipal and industrial customers.

Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management

How to Implement a Lasting Solution to the Problem?

Sustainable Waste Management: Using material resources efficiently to cut down on the amount of waste produced and disposing of waste in a way that actively contributes to the economic, social and environmental goals of sustainable development.

Waste is a problem that will not go away, and will only grow over time as the population continues to increase. We should be committed to finding the most effective solution for dealing with our municipal solid waste (MSW) in ways that limit and reduce environmental and human impact.

Landfills can be hazardous to the environment and to our health. They create adverse environmental effects by allowing for the release of dangerous methane emissions from decomposing trash and carbon dioxide emissions from the transportation methods used in the long distance shipping to open sites. All of these emissions contribute to global warming. Landfills also cause the release of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) which are contained in landfill gas.

Ground water can become contaminated from landfill leachate. When a landfill is capped, methane can still be released for years and the land has limited uses.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover

What will you do with that next ton of trash? Communities should be encouraged to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink.

Recycling: Part of the Answer

Recycling is a vital part of a sustainable waste solution because it has the potential to significantly reduce the quantity of waste. However, not all waste is recyclable. Waste to Energy (WtE) facilities, complement recycling efforts and municipalities that have WtE facilities typically have a higher recycling rate than those communicates without WtE.

WtE facilities throughout the World are part of a waste management solution in local communities where recycling rates exceed the national average.

Why do communities with WtE facilities recycle more than other communities? The reason is simple. Communities that invest in WtE facilities establish long-term, comprehensive solid waste management plans.

As part of those efforts, WtE facilities in the U.S.A. recycle more than 770,000 tons of ferrous metal annually. In Europe the results are even more impressive. As European countries move to reduce their dependence on landfills and increase recycling efforts, their environmentally sound approach to solid waste management includes relying WtE facilities. Already Denmark, Sweden, and Germany are among the countries that operate WtE facilities and enjoy extraordinarily high recycling rates. In Europe and in the United States, WtE continues to complement and lead to improved recycling efforts.

Fact: The average recycling rate for WtE communities across the United States is 33%, compared to a national recycling rate of 28%.

What Is Waste to Energy?

Waste to Energy (WtE) is a process that takes municipal solid waste (MSW), i.e. household trash, and transfers it into combustion chambers where it is burned at high temperatures and reduced to 10% of its original volume. The heat generated from the combustion chambers heats up water in steel tubes that form the walls of the combustion chambers. The water is turned to steam and sent through a turbine that continuously generates electricity.

The Waste to Energy (WtE) industry has been in existence for over 25 years and has developed state-of-the-art technology making it one of the cleanest forms of energy generation. The advanced technology in combusting waste is the air quality (emission) control system. Waste to Energy (WtE) facilities meet or exceed the strictest standards and employ a multi-step process to achieve superior environmental performance.

While recycling is a preferred first step in the waste management process, not all waste can be recycled. After recycling, there are two proven options for disposal: bury waste in a landfill or use the advanced Waste to Energy (WtE) process to turn our growing amount of trash into clean, renewable power.

WtE facilities provide communities with a clean source of power generation, minimal disturbance to surrounding neighborhoods, and a safe and effective solution for managing local trash generation. In communities where WtE facilities are located, the recycling rates are higher than the average level. WtE alleviates the reliance on landfills and the long distance shipping of trash. Re-using household waste to power generators decreases our dependence on fossil fuels and avoids the pollutants that would have been emitted in its place.

Winterthur, Switzerland

Why Waste to Energy is a Better Solution for Our Environment

For every ton of waste processed in a WtE facility, one would avoid the need to import one barrel of oil or mine a quarter ton of coal. WtE facilities not only offset our dependence on fossil fuels, they also prevent the production of greenhouse gases. In a more direct comparison, combusting one ton of waste in a WtE facility prevents the equivalent of one ton of CO2 from entering into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels to produce the same amount of electricity, and the decomposition of Municipal Solid waste (MSW) in landfills.

As waste decomposes in a landfill, it produces methane, which is a very potent greenhouse gas (over 20 times more potent than CO2.) No methane is produced from WtE facilities. Additionally, keeping waste out of landfills means more open space and less risk of leaking toxins into groundwater and releasing harmful air emissions. Waste to Energy facilities also recycle metal that would have otherwise been land filled. In total, creating energy from waste is simply a better solution.

Zurich, Switzerland

Quick Facts about the Waste to Energy (WtE) Industry

Waste to Energy (WtE) is a specially designed energy generation process that uses household waste as fuel and helps solve some of society’s biggest challenges, including:

Below is a sample a hierarchy of solid waste management, identifying four tiers in descending order of preference:

• Reduction at source
• Re-use
• Recycling or composting
• Recovery through for instants through a Combustion process
• Landfill or incineration without energy recovery

WtE is a safe, reliable waste disposal method that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, recovers metals for recycling and generates renewable electricity.

Waste to Energy makes “important contributions to the overall effort to achieve increased renewable energy use and the many associated positive environmental benefits.”

Environmental benefits - WtE reduces greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming

WtE reduces greenhouse gases by:

• Reducing landfills which generate methane emissions (Methane is 20+ times more potent than CO2)
• Decreasing dependence on fossil fuel power plants and related CO2 emissions
• Recycling metal thus reducing mining operations and associated emission
• Reducing transportation to distant landfills

The Global Roundtable on Climate Change concluded that “efforts to reduce global emissions of methane from landfills should be expanded, including increased use of waste-to-energy facilities….”

Tokyo, Japan

WtE generates clean, reliable electricity and reduces dependence on fossil fuel

• The US EPA has stated that WtE facilities are a “clean, reliable, renewable source of energy” that “produces electricity with less environmental impact than almost any other source of electricity.”
• WtE facilities produce electricity 98% of every hour, all year long thus replacing base load coal and gas fired power plants.

Climate Change and the Positive Role of Energy-from-Waste

Scientists predict that if we stay on our current course we will irreversibly change our planet within the next 30 years. Many reports show that average temperatures in the arctic region are rising twice as fast as elsewhere in the world. The polar ice cap is shrinking at a rate of 9% every 10 years and some in the scientific community argue that at this pace, summer in the arctic could be ice-free by the end of this century.

In January 2007, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its 4th report. The major finding is that scientists are 90% certain that human activities over the last 50 years, such as the burning of fossil fuels, have led to “global warming” or “climate change.” These findings are increasingly being brought into the mainstream in various ways, due in part to the increased attention on unseasonably warm weather across parts of the globe. There are numerous actions that nations can take to help slow the effects of global warming. Waste to Energy (WtE) offers a solution that can have a direct positive impact beginning today!

What Causes Climate Change?

When greenhouse gases (GHG) such as methane and carbon dioxide are released into the earth’s atmosphere, they trap infrared radiation from sunlight. The sunlight is stored as heat in the atmosphere and can be tied to the increase in the average temperature of the Earth. Many scientists suggest that the Earth’s climate has warmed over the past century and have built models showing that GHGs produced from increased human activity and industrial manufacturing are a direct factor. Therefore, we can assume that by decreasing GHG emissions we can slow the rate of global warming.

Goeteborg, Sweden

Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse gas emissions are primarily linked to energy generation, such as the combustion of fossil fuels for energy generation and transportation. Approximately 63% of global warming is attributable to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, with the majority of CO2 emissions coming from the burning of fossil fuels. Methane is another greenhouse gas, and at more than 20 times the potency of carbon dioxide, it is ranked as a dangerous contributor to global warming. The largest source of man-made methane emissions in the World come from landfills, but methane is also emitted from coal mines, oil and gas operations, and agriculture. Approximately 18% of global warming is due to methane emissions in the atmosphere. Methane emissions from landfills pose a significant danger because our growing amount of trash results in ever-increasing landfills, which continue to produce methane for decades, even long after they are capped and closed. So what does this mean for the way that we conduct ourselves as global citizens? One answer is to conserve our energy use, which will decrease the demand for fossil fuels, thereby lowering emissions of carbon dioxide. Recycling and reducing our trash generation will reduce the amount of trash being dumped in landfills, preventing the production of methane from decomposing waste. For the remaining waste that cannot be recycled, we need to ensure that it is handled in a way that provides minimal disturbance and maximum benefits to our world’s climate – that’s Waste to Energy (WtE).

Preventing Climate Change with Waste to Energy

Waste to Energy (WtE) is a process that converts municipal solid waste (MSW) into renewable electricity in a controlled procedure that reduces the volume of MSW to 10% of its original size. The heat generated from the combustion chambers heats up water that is then turned to steam and sent through a turbine that continuously generates electricity.

Landfill gas collection is used at some landfills part of the time, but only a fraction of the landfill gas is actually captured. The Earth Engineering Center at Columbia University estimates that only about 50% of landfill methane is captured over the life of the landfill (including landfills with no methane collection systems) and the rest is vented into the atmosphere. Furthermore, no methane is captured during the initial years of a landfill’s operation and after closure. This methane escapes directly into the atmosphere.

Landfills have the potential to create long-term problems including methane emissions, ground water contamination from landfill leachate and rendering land unsuitable for reuse.

Capturing and then converting methane is a very inefficient way to produce energy. As an average, converting landfill methane to energy provides less than 4% of the energy that is generated from the same amount of waste processed in a WtE facility.

Global Solutions: Building a Better World

The European Union (EU) utilizes a simple but effective approach to managing waste while also reducing GHG emissions. First, they reduce the amount of land-filled biodegradable waste (according to the EU Landfill Directive) and second, they acknowledge that WtE recovers potential energy and ferrous materials from MSW. Some countries in the EU are using the reduction of GHG emissions from WtE to meet their respective Kyoto targets. The EU and the U.S. EPA have both adopted a solid waste hierarchy that recommends reduce, reuse, recycle; Waste to Energy (WtE); and then as a last resort, landfill. The EU recognizes that WtE is a net reducer of GHGs and it has aligned its policies to take advantage of the benefits that Waste to Energy (WtE) technology provides in meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets as laid out under the Kyoto Protocol.

A Leading Source of Renewable Electricity - Looking Toward the Future: Renewable Energy for the 21st Century

We all recognize that energy situation faces severe challenges. Our current sources of power, mostly fossil fuel based, have economic, national security and environmental drawbacks. We need to take action now in order to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and create a healthy environment for future generations.

Clearly we have a long way to go to achieve energy independence and environmental sustainability.

However, there is no single panacea for our energy challenges. We need to carefully look at every available option and maximize our efficiency using the sources we have. As the extraction of our finite supply of fossil fuels becomes more difficult and expensive, we will need ingenuity and perseverance to win the race to make renewable energy generation efficient and affordable.

Waste to Energy (WtE) as a Solution – It is not waste if it is energy

There are two options for dealing with trash post-recycling: we can either transport it to landfills where it decomposes, potentially contaminating ground water, taking up space and emitting the potent greenhouse gas methane into the air; or we can use our trash as fuel to power alternative energy plants.

Unlike wind, solar or hydro power sources, which can only create energy under specific conditions, Waste to Energy (WtE) facilities can operate 24/7, making them the most continuously reliable source of renewable electricity generation.

The Environmentally Responsible Solution for Waste Disposal - Environmental Advantages of Waste to Energy

According to the U.S. EPA, energy-from waste creates “less impact than almost any other source of electricity.”

The German Ministry of the Environment reports that home fireplaces have more than 20 times the dioxin emissions than the 66 modern German WtE facilities combined.

Landfills vs. Waste to Energy Facilities

• As waste decomposes in a landfill, it produces methane.
• Methane is a greenhouse gas, mostly emitted from decomposing waste in landfills, which is 20 – 25 times the potency of carbon dioxide and is ranked as a dangerous contributor to climate change.
• Methane gases are also harmful for the ozone layer. If the ozone layer gets thinner it increases the risk of skin cancer.
• Keeping waste out of landfills means more open space and less risk of leaking toxins into groundwater and releasing harmful air emissions.
• The risk of ground water contamination could be a public health hazard as the groundwater could be used produce drinking water.
• No methane is produced from WtE facilities, nor does the risk exists to pollute the groundwater.
• Waste to Energy facilities avoid the production of methane while producing significantly more electricity from each ton of waste compared to landfills.
• Further GHG reductions are realized by the avoidance of carbon emissions from long-haul transportation methods used to transport garbage to distant landfills.
• Waste used as fuel in WtE facilities is typically generated in the surrounding area.
• Waste to Energy facilities also recycle metal that would have otherwise been land filled. In total, creating energy from waste is simply a better solution.

What is the difference between an incinerator and a Waste to Energy (WtE) facility?

• The term “incineration,” which is often erroneously applied to WtE is an uncontrolled combustion process without energy recovery. Today’s modern WtE facilities are in no way similar to incinerators of the past. Using municipal solid waste (MSW) as the primary fuel source, WtE facilities recover electricity and steam for the communities in which they operate. WtE facilities burn waste in specially designed boilers to ensure complete combustion. The facilities use state-of-the-art pollution control equipment to scrub emissions, preventing them from releasing into our environment. The result is clean, renewable energy.
• WtE facilities divert of waste from landfills each day preventing ground water contamination as well as preventing methane gas emissions (20-25 times more potent than carbon dioxide) from decomposing garbage.

Why is WtE considered to be renewable?

• The formal definition of the term “renewable energy” varies. The International Energy Agency defines renewable energy as energy “derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly.” Solar, wind, wave, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal energy are typically considered renewable.
• The Kyoto protocol recognizes WtE as an eligible offset in CDM protocol. have included WtE within the definition of renewable energy.
• The World Economic Forum identifies 8 emerging clean energy sectors including WtE.
• Those who support the claim that WtE should be considered renewable reference that there is a tremendous amount of MSW remaining after reuse and recycling, even in locations with mature state-of-the-art waste management programs. This waste can serve as a long-term supply of fuel in WtE facilities, as it will be “replenished constantly” for the foreseeable future and is consistently replenished and all of the energy recovered by the WtE process preserves natural resources and avoids secondary impacts from mining and the combustion of those resources.

What is left after the waste goes through energy recovery?  Is it harmful? What do you do with it?

• The WtE process produces a combined ash, which is two of the by-products of the WtE process: the bottom ash that remains after the combustion process and air pollution control residue. Combined ash is considered non-hazardous. Bottom ash is reused in civil projects such as road construction and fabrication of bricks.

Incinerators were widely known as polluters and dangerous for the environment. What effects do WtE facilities have on our environment?

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), nearly one ton of green house gas emissions are avoided for every ton of municipal solid waste processed at a WtE facility due to the following:

• Avoided methane emissions from landfills. When a ton of solid waste is delivered to a waste-to-energy facility, the methane that would have been generated if it were sent to a landfill is avoided. While some of this methane could be collected and used to generate electricity, a large portion of methane and other harmful pollutants cannot be captured.
• Avoided carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel combustion.When a megawatt of electricity is generated by a WtE facility, an increase in carbon dioxide emissions that would have been generated by a fossil-fuel fired power plant is avoided. 
• The WtE process produces a combined ash, which is two of the by-products of the WtE process: the bottom ash that remains after the combustion process and air pollution control residue. Combined ash is considered non-hazardous. Bottom ash is reused in civil projects such as road construction and fabrication of bricks.
• Avoided CO2 emissions from metals production. WtE facilities recover metals for recycling. Recycling metals saves energy and avoids CO2 emissions that would have been emitted if virgin materials were mined and new metals were manufactured, such as steel.

Is Waste to Energy an option for Climate Change?

If the goal is greenhouse gas reduction, then waste-to-energy is an option. When greenhouse gases (GHG) such as methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are released into the earth’s atmosphere, they trap infrared radiation from sunlight. This is stored as heat in the atmosphere and can be tied to the increase in the earth’s average temperature, causing what is known as global warming or climate change. Waste to Energy offsets greenhouse gases to combat climate change. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for every ton of municipal solid waste processed at a Waste to Energy facility, the release of approximately one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions into the atmosphere is prevented due to the avoidance of methane generation at landfills, the offset of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel electrical production, and the recovery of metals.

What is green house gas and what are methane gasses?

Methane is a greenhouse gas, mostly emitted from decomposing waste in landfills, which is 20 – 25 times the potency of carbon dioxide and is ranked as a dangerous contributor to climate change. Waste to Energy facilities avoid the production of methane while producing significantly more electricity from each ton of waste compared to landfills. Further GHG reductions are realized by the avoidance of carbon emissions from long-haul transportation methods used to transport garbage to distant landfills. Waste used as fuel in WtE facilities is typically generated in the surrounding area.

Is waste to Energy recognized under the Kyoto protocol and the Clean Development Mechanism program?

The Kyoto Protocol is a United Nations international pact to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism program, waste to energy is recognized as a source of greenhouse gas credits.