WASTE MANAGEMENT

Africa’s Largest Waste-to-Energy Plant in Addis Ababa Incinerates 1,400 Tons Daily

Waste-to-energy plant in Addis Ababa incinerates 80% of the city’s rubbish

23 February 2018 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: 2018, Energy, Featured, Waste

Koshe is the only large open landfill in Addis Ababa that has served the city for about 50 years. Earlier in 2017, the site made headlines as 114 people (residents and scavengers) were killed due to a landslide at the premises.

Waste-to-Energy Plant in Addis Ababa Incinerates 80% of the City’s Rubbish

Following the incident, Ethiopian government planned a relocation for people living in the area which is said to be the size of thirty-six football pitches. The purpose of relocating the residents is to transform the site by running a waste-to-energy plant so that Addis Ababa can deal with waste more effectively.

waste-to-energy plant in Addis Ababa Ethiopia — Waste-to-energy plant is Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Government of Ethiopia)

According to reports, Reppie waste-to-energy facility will revolutionize the way the entire city deals with waste. The plant, which is said to have begun operating in January, will take care of 80% of the city’s waste; that would be an incineration of about 1,400 tons of waste every day. As a result, it will fulfill up to 30% of Addis’ household electricity needs and will also meet European standards on air emissions.

Zerubbabel Getachew, the deputy permanent representative of Ethiopia, said to the United Nations in Nairobi that the Reppie project is a part of a broader strategy of Ethiopia to deal with pollution and generate sustainable energy across all sectors of the economy. Getachew further said that the Government of Ethiopia is hopeful that this project will serve as a model for other regions in the country as well as many others around the world.

Building site waste-to-energy plant in Addis Ababa Ethiopia — Site of waste-to-energy plant in Addis Ababa (YouTube Screenshot: Addis Ababa Reppie Waste-to-Energy Project)

Africa’s Largest Waste-to-Energy Plant in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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The working principle

In energy-from-waste plants, waste is incinerated in a combustion chamber which produces heat that boils the water until it turns to steam. That steam is then used to fuel a turbine generator that generates electricity. These facilities are ideal in cities where land is in short supply. They reduce the release of methane into the atmosphere, prevent the release of toxic chemicals into the groundwater, save precious space, and generate electricity.

These plants are quite popular in Europe as they incinerate up to one quarter of all municipal solid waste. Italy has 40 plants, Germany has 121, and France has 126.

Similar to its European counterparts, Reppie operates according to the standards of European Union and works within its strict emission limits. The plant utilizes state-of-the-art back-end flue technology for gas treatment in order to considerably reduce the release of dioxins and heavy metals produced from the incineration.

The Reppie project is the first of its kind in Africa which is made possible with the partnership between the Government of Ethiopia and an association of several international companies including Ramboll – an engineering firm in Denmark, China National Electric Engineering, and Cambridge Industries Limited (Singapore). The consortium was established specifically to plan, design, construct and own waste-to-energy facilities custom-built for Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the consortium, Reppie is the first of a series of these facilities in key cities across the entire region.

Dubai’s Waste-to-Energy Plant – Renewable Electricity for 120,000 Homes

The plant supplies electricity at a rate proportional to the energy consumed by 2,000 Burj Khalifa skyscrapers

02 February 2018 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: Energy, Featured, Waste

Dubai’s government announced the launch of its long-awaited waste-to-energy plant which is to be built in Warsan area, the industrial hub of this emirate. Dubai hopes to be the first city to completely induce the use of safe electricity with this very much anticipated project. The plant, which is expected to be fully functional by 2020, is able to convert 5,000 of the 8,000 tonnes of solid waste produced in Dubai daily and generate 185MW of electrical energy for the Dubai Municipal. This will contribute about 2 percent of the electricity consumed in Dubai yearly.

It is to supply electricity to about 120,000 homes at a rate proportional to energy consumed by 2,000 Burj Khalifa skyscrapers, said representatives of the government. The plant will be built on a two-hectare plot and is supposed to be the largest and best operating waste-to-energy plant the world has ever seen, the officials boasted.Work is set to begin in a few months, wrapped up and the plant made functional before the Dubai Expo 2020. A feat the government is confident they can achieve.

Dubai’s waste-to-energy plant, which has been assigned a budget of Dh2.5 billion is proposed to treat 1.82 million tonnes of solid waste each year, said Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality. Lootah added that the main aim of the project is to give support and longevity to Dubai. This will improve the sustainability of the city and will be done in partnership with DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Agency), he meant.

Dubai’s Waste-to-Energy Plant Provides More Than 10,000MW of Electricity to the City

Dubai’s waste-to-energy plant is to be connected to DEWA’s grid through HV 132kV cables. This modern power source will make for a sustainable electricity supply and confident Dubai, combating the rise of carbon footprint in the city. The project is also to help reduce the electricity tariff by broadening options of the power supply, maintaining longevity and providing more than 10,000MW of renewable electricity to the city.

Dubai hopes to fully produce at least 75% of its own electricity output with green sources and technologies by 2050 as its Clean Energy Strategy demands. This new plant, fed with renewable sources, makes an essential contribution to this challenging objective and will reduce the carbon footprint of the city.

The facility will be designed to reuse solid waste, industrial waste and commercial waste by recovering the energy and treating the resultant gases of combustion. Residues can be recovered from the process, will be 100% recyclable, and be dispersed as such. Residues like metals and so on will be sent out for recycling. The flue gas will go up high-pressure steam turbines which will make use of its mechanical energy to produce electricity. Flue gas from the process will be treated with lime and filtered to maintain a safe working environment. With this project, the Dubai government hopes to beat leading countries in energy supply, make its city safer to live in, and in turn increase its tourism.

Dubai's waste-to-energy plant - Hussain Nasser Lootah in the center - Dubai Municipality — Hussain Nasser Lootah (center) with senior executive of Swiss company Hitachi Zosen Inova and Belgian construction company Besix Group (Dubai Municipality)

Dubai's waste-to-energy plant - Group picture with Mr. Lootah and companies Besix and Hitachi — (Dubai Municipality)

Dubai's waste-to-energy plant - Group picture of people involved — (Dubai Municipality)

Sources: Gulf News & Government of Dubai

ModRoof – Modular Roofs For Low-Income Housing Made of Recycled Waste

ModRoof's system for low-income housing solves existing roofing problems

20 April 2017 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: Featured, Waste

It’s everyone’s dream to have a roof over their head. However, that roof can turn into a nightmare if it’s one which leaks, breaks or heats up the interior to dangerous levels in a hot climate like that of India. A new low-cost and eco-friendly roofing system, called ModRoof, is driving many such nightmares under cover for those Indians who live in poverty in urban slums. And there’s a good chance the roofing system will soon include solar panels, too.

Solving Existing Roofing Problems

Up till now, Indians living in poverty-stricken areas have mainly been making use of metal or concrete sheets to cover their houses. However, dwellers in these units claim they face major problems, including severe heat because of lack of insulation; and deterioration leading to leaks, when using metal or concrete sheets.

Noise levels and leaks are at their highest levels during the monsoon season. Concrete slabs are occasionally chosen as the most workable option but are considered too expensive and difficult to install for most people in small villages or slum areas.

Leakage test ModRoof from ReMaterials — Leakage test (ReMaterials)

According to ModRoof’s manufacturers, start-up company ReMaterials, their new modular roof system deals with many of these problems by being strong, waterproof, fireproof – and likely to last for 20 years. It is also claimed to be quieter and more effective during monsoons, as well as more affordable than concrete slabs.

Recycling Waste Into Modular Roofs

So what makes up ModRoof? Agricultural and cardboard waste, locally-sourced from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, are the primary materials. These are recycled into modular units which are designed for ease of transport and installation – and so only individual units need replacement should there be damage. The flat rectangular units, which come standard in aqua, are joined together on site, and are supported on beams.

Installation of ModRoof from ReMaterials — ModRoof installation (ReMaterials)

Working in Indian villages and slums on housing and solar energy installations inspired Hasit Ganatra, a University of South California engineering graduate, and now co-founder of ReMaterials, to come up with this more affordable and effective roofing system.

Solar Panels Part of ModRoof’s Future Plans

Around 70 installations have been made in Ahmedabad so far, but the company says it is ready to leave start-up stage and go for wider markets – perhaps, entering markets in other developing countries, like Brazil, Morocco or Mexico.

ModRoof is also not stopping with just covering houses. The company is also intent on providing a source of power to those in rural and low-income areas. ReMaterials has already developed a way to incorporate solar panels in its roofing units so that those living under them will be able to charge cell phones and power LED lights.

Blue ModRoof installation by ReMaterials — (ReMaterials)

ModRoof ReMaterials - bird's eye perspective — (ReMaterials)

Pineapple Waste-To-Energy Plant in The City of Cagayan De Oro Put Into Operation

Successful in removing over 90 percent of the organic pollution

18 February 2017 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: Energy, Featured, Waste

Climate change is accelerating, sea ice is at record low, permafrost is melting and literally the world is on fire. You might be wondering how to fix this thing. If you do a little bit of research and you will come to realize the fact that all it boils down to one thing that is – Energy and EROI (Energy Return on Energy Investment). We need energy to keep the modern way of life going and we need coal and oil to do that. There is no way around it right? Of course not, pineapple waste is here to save our skins. Scientists have found a way to use pineapple waste to produce energy. It may seem inconsequential to some but this is quite interesting according to some energy experts.

Around 24.8 million tons of pineapples were produced in 2013 worldwide. Costa Rica, Philippines, Brazil, and Thailand are among the largest producers. What if it wouldn’t be only an energy source for human alimentation but also a renewable source to provide electrical power?

Del Monte is the company which is betting big on making better use of pineapple waste. They are not a small player in the industry of processed vegetable and fruit variants. The Del Monte Pacific Ltd, also known as the DMPI owns the Del Monte Philippines Inc. which is now in the news for not only their delicious food products but also their commendable role in making the world a greener place.

Pineapple Waste for The Production of Methane Rich Biogas to Power Two 1.4 MW Generators

Allegedly, DMPI accounts for nearly 10% of the total annual production of the pineapple products. The company partnered with Global Water Engineering (GWE) in order to make productive use of all the pineapple waste and convert it into useful energy.

GWE is based in Hong Kong and has established 150 waste-to-green energy plants in several parts of the world. This led to the installation of a pineapple wastewater treatment plant by GWE which used the pineapple waste for the production of methane rich biogas in quantities enough to run two electric power generators with a capacity of 1.4 MW each.

This waste water converter allegedly surpassed the expectations of the company and has been successful in removing over 90 percent of the organic pollution. The DMPI originally had a target of treating nearly five million cubic meters of wastewater annually and the process results are much more than that.

It is one of the largest operations ever taken up by the GWE. The GWE had to customize the treatment plant for the needs of DMPI. The wastewater is pretreated for the removal of any solid particles before they mix up with rest of the effluents. The aerobic excess sludge is mechanically dewatered. All effluents eventually have to pass through a primary clarifier. The biogas ultimate produced is passed onto two electricity generators which produce the power.

An Ideal Example for The Food and Beverage Industry Across the World?

The success of GWE is not only limited to the food and beverage industry but also starch and fermentation and other agro-industries as well. Their wastewater treatments have been utilized in various other organic industries as well.

Going green has benefited DMPI in many ways. This means that DMPI can successfully utilize green energy rather than fossil fuels. The Return of Investment or the ROI is quick. The plant can benefit from the continuous supply of electricity as well as cut down on the electricity bills. This has led to decrease in the size of the carbon footprint of the process plant and has definite positive impact on the environment. The electricity gains are huge and this project can be considered to be an ideal example for the food and beverage industry across the world.

Methane is one of the principal components of biogas and therefore is conducive to our environment. If the production and utilization of biogas are complemented with other green sources of energy like the wind energy, it can be used as a highly reliable source of energy.

Electricity Generating Bacteria Able to Make Urban Wastewater Drinkable One Day?

The pollution load from urban surface waters, especially in developing countries, shouldn't be underestimated

15 February 2017 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: Featured, Water

According to UN-Water, urbanization is, amongst others, a reason why the world risks to face a water quality crisis at the beginning of the 21st century. This is getting more urgent as more and more people flock to cities every year. The urban populations is projected to nearly double within the next 40 years. Furthermore, surface water run-off from paved areas in urbanized areas is a major problem for a number of reasons. For example, enormous amounts of contaminated rainwater, which have cleaned the smoggy air as well as roads and sidewalks, are waiting to get treated. The pollution load from urban surface water, especially in developing countries, shouldn’t be underestimated. Maybe bacteria and microorganisms can come up with solutions?

Many types of bacteria and other microorganisms are self-healing as well as reaction-specific nanoreactors that are found nearly everywhere in the world. The result of this is that the composition of toxic or contaminated water varies from one place to another. Increasing the level of metabolic function of naturally dominant bacteria helps in breaking down the contaminant quantity in water. When these bacterial species are used to generate electrical energy, there comes an effective way of cleaning water. These bacterial species are rendered to be electricity generating bacteria and have the potential to make wastewater drinkable one day.

Researchers from Bazan Research Group at UC Santa Barbara developed chemically modified bacteria named Shewanella oneidensis by using iron as well as other minerals which will produce energy being a part of its metabolism. This bacteriological fuel cell makes use of proteins that conduct current within its cell membrane for exhalation. According to the co-author of the story, this electricity generating bacteria will provide an opportunity to study the behavior of microbial species in a new way.

The researchers have also developed a synthetic molecule which is named DSFO+ and holds properties to modify cell membranes. The molecule includes iron and has the ability to conduct electrons. Scientists also explain that Shewanella is a chemically-modified bacterium and all its effects are for temporary time duration. Every time this bacterium multiplies, DSFO+ will start to dilute getting back to its original state.

Alongside being an electricity generating bacteria, the DSFO+ also serves to be a power adapter which not only has the capacity to generate electricity. It is also using the molecule for replacing the function of proteins that occur naturally in mutant bacteria. Increase in this level result in a behavior change of microbial systems. These systems can be very useful in future for treating wastewater.

How will the metabolism react if a drug is injected

This organism modification is mostly done through genetic engineering, however; the resultant microns cannot be released in the environment. Moreover, this approach is also quite challenging to implement in the practical scenario. The microbe is chemically modified for a specified period of time. When the microbe starts to multiply, the synthetic molecule dilutes bringing back the entire system back to its original position. This property allows this molecule to be used in wastewater treatment in such a way which would not have been possible with their genetically reformed counterparts.

According to Bazan, the idea behind electricity generating bacteria is to remove electrons which can be done very easily. However, the aim is to determine what will happen if electrons are provided to carry chemical reactions, whether the health of microorganisms can be monitored through electronic signatures, how will the metabolism react if a drug is injected into it, how will it breathe if the microbe is stressed, whether microorganisms exist within a community and if they do, can they send signals to each other and whether those signals can be traced and understood are the major areas that have opened a new pave for future researches.