GreenBiz News | Waste-to-Energy Plants Could Replace Incinerators

GreenBiz News | Waste-to-Energy Plants Could Replace Incinerators: "

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Waste-to-Energy Plants Could Replace Incinerators
Source: Edie News

LONDON, Apr. 2, 2007 -- Cutting edge waste-to-energy plants that are smaller and cleaner than incinerators could soon hit the U.K. market, ending the need for polluting incinerator projects.

The plants run a new process that transforms non-recyclable waste into a clean syn-gas, used to generate clean power and a high-strength building material, with the plant itself powered by the syn-gas it produces.

Carbon-neutral and very low in emissions with plants around a third of the size of incinerators, the Gasplasma process can compete with incinerators on a number of counts, according to Andrew Hamilton, CEO of Advanced Plasma Power, the company that patented the process.

'The trick here for us has been the combination of gasification and plasma. The benefit of combining these two existing technologies is that you substantially reduce the power requirements, and that transforms the economics of the process,' Hamilton said.

'You will get some CO2 coming out but a half to two-thirds of the waste is biodegradable, so it's carbon neutral,' he said, adding that the process beats incineration when it comes to the carbon balance.

The process has passed tests in a pilot plant with flying colors and is now ready to be implemented on larger scale, he said. Numerous advantages over incinerators include size, a major selling point as the 50-foot-high plant takes up around a third of the space needed for an incinerator.

'Because it's got a small building footprint with a low profile building and small stack, and it's very clean, it is very suitable for urban"