Energy from waste
Finding appropriate technology main hurdle: PM�s energy adviser
STAFF REPORTER
The primary problem with Waste-to-Energy (W2E) in Bangladesh lies in finding appropriate technology, not in bureaucratic red tape or financial assistance, asserted the adviser for energy to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, yesterday.
During a seminar on W2E, organised on the occasion of the Power and Energy Week at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC), the adviser said the government is ready to provide all sorts of assistance for implementing W2E. It is true that the per unit of electricity from W2E is high, but considering the benefits it will bring the society, I can assure you that the government will provide every sort of assistance in implementing it, he said.
Just bring me the right technology to do so. I have heard over 50 technical presentations regarding the issue in the last two decades, but no implementation has taken place, he said, adding: I think time has come to take action.
The energy adviser also said the government is ready to take advice from all relevant sectors to implement the W2E project.
We all need ideas to make it happen. I even seek talks with the rag-pickers who are involved in segregating different sort of waste at the generation point. I think they can give us some brilliant ideas for segregating waste.
Echoing the advisers speech, North Dhaka City Corporation Mayor Anisul Haque said he also believes that an action plan should be taken up promptly to implement W2E.
I have received some good plans from some potential companies. I, however, asked them to segregate different waste in their own ways. We will only provide them with land and the waste.
Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sayeed Khokon said he first learned about W2E during his fathers tenure as mayor. In 1994, I learned about it from my father, Mohammad Hanif, the then mayor. Since then, I havent observed any visible progress in W2E.
I dont know whether this is actually feasible or not in Bangladesh because of the high price per unit of electricity. The city which has high land prices usually goes in for W2E with high government subsidies because it cannot afford to allocate its precious land for landfill of waste, he said.
If the Bangladesh government plans to heavily subsidise this sector, only then it would be possible here, he asserted.
Regarding the potential of W2E in Bangladesh, Joerg Wagner, a Waste-to-Energy specialist from Germany who presented the keynote paper at the seminar, pointed out that as the content of organic waste in Bangladesh is between 70 to 80 per cent, there was high potential for biogas generation.
A feasibility study for a 20,000-metric tonne biogas pilot plant in Keraniganj envisaged an investment of EUR 8.2 million, which indicates a cost of EUR 0.2 per KWh for electrical energy on the average in 20 years of operation, he said, adding that the investment in this pilot plant was calculated at EUR 8.2 million.
He, however, noted that at EUR 0.20/KWh, the energy generation costs from biogas generation were higher than energy generation from fossil fuels, and requires financial support for successful implementation.
About the potential for thermal utilization, he said since the content of high calorific waste (paper, wood and fabrics) is between 10 and 20 per cent, Bangladesh has low potential for thermal utilization. It would be possible only for specific fractions from industrial sources.
He disclosed that in 2012, six million metric tonnes of municipal solid waste were produced in Bangladesh, which could have generated 10 to 15 million normal cubic metres of collectable methane per year, enough to fuel a gas engine capacity of 18,000 to 26,000 kW, producing 137 GW to 210 GW.
