bodies, making power out of waste using modern technologies is a
viable option for Kerala cities, a seminar on 'Energy from waste' has
suggested. The conference organised by City Service Centre and Chamber
of Commerce discussed the scope of converting waste into electricity.A
four-member German team, which participated at the meeting, explained
how Germany was converting most of its waste into electricity in an
attempt to become self-sufficient in power. The team said it was ready
to provide technology and logistic support if the government here was
ready to set up common treatment plants. The conference was a
follow-up on an Indian Buyers Summit on 'Solar, Bio-Energy' held in
Germany in October.A ten-member team from Kerala had visited Germany
to take a look at the latest technologies for using various
alternative energy sources. The programme was organised by
Deutseche-Energie-Agentur(DENA), the German Energy Agency."Germans
have been making use of entire waste, including drain water, to
produce energy," said Roy John Pullockaren, Project Officer of Amala
Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, who was part of the delegation to
Germany. "We visited one 20 MW sewage treatment plant in Erfurt, near
Berlin, which produces electricity from 90,000 tonnes of waste
collected from nearby areas."Mass Burn is the most common
waste-to-energy technology, in which waste is combusted directly in
much the same way as fossil fuels are used in other direct combustion
technologies. Burning waste converts water to steam to drive a turbine
connected to an electricity generator. In European counties,
individuals and firms have been encouraged to produce power through
alternative technologies. They could sell the power to common grid at
an attractive price, explained K. Alexander Mathew, member of German
delegation.Wolfgang Ament, Sebastian Everding and Calus Hagenhoff were
the other members. Thrissur Municipal Corporation is estimated to
spend Rs.2 for disposing a kilogram of waste. "If the authorities
provide land and other facilities, these common treatment plants could
turn into a viable alternative energy source within 6-7 years," said
Mr. Pullockaren.
The Hindu, 13th December 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment