Category Archives: Renewable Energy Sources

Geothermal, Renewable Energy Sources

Play The Position On The Chess Board In Front Of You – Not The One You Wish You Had

This is from the Energy Bulletin:

Deepwater Horizon and the Addiction to Growth
by Dan Bednarz

“The Gulf of Mexico oil blowout carries the emotional wallop and learning potential of a near-death experience. First, it certifies that the age of cheap and plentiful oil is over. Second, it reveals that our collective faith in technology to overcome any challenge posed by nature is a dangerous delusion. Third, it may be the event that sets our nation on the path to genuine economic and ecological sustainability.

“To understand why the age of cheap and plentiful oil is over we must ask why BP was drilling for oil in a foreboding environment. The answer has two parts: 1) the giant deposits of easy to reach oil on land have been exploited, so it’s drill in harsh environments or nothing; and 2) despite claims by proponents of various petroleum alternatives and renewables, we have no viable, ready to go scalable substitutes for oil.”

For a couple of years in the late 1970s, I played chess every Saturday night with Willard Keim. He was a UH-Hilo Political Science professor and the Big Island Chess Champion. We played with chess clocks and we wrote each game down. During the course of the evening, we normally had time for two games, which frequently concluded after 1 a.m.

I did not win many games. But I learned one important lesson from Will – to ”play the position in front of you; not the position you wish you had.” After a while, I knew that when I lost it was because he was the better player, not because I had lost my sense of reality.

And so today, when I evaluate our energy situation, I try to make sure I am evaluating the situation as it is, not how I wish it were. This is why I say that “Wishing and hoping is not an energy plan.”

We on the Big Island are so fortunate to have the gift of geothermal, which will allow future generations to not only cope but prosper.

For the sake of future generations, can we be smart enough, determined enough and tough enough to keep this once-in-a-civilization opportunity from slipping though our fingers?

And can we bring all our people together? We do not have the luxury of time. And we must not focus on this part of the island or that part of the island; or this culture or that.

We are one island and one people and we must work to take care of all of us.

Geothermal, Renewable Energy Sources

First Geothermal Working Group Meeting

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Wally Ishibashi and I are co-chairs of the newly formed Geothermal Working Group, which met for the first time on Wednesday. Here is some video of the meeting.

The group was formed by a resolution introduced by Senator Russell Kokubun and will be exploring the possibility of using geothermal as the Big Island’s primary base power source. Mayor Kenoi has put the full power of his office behind this effort.

Wally and I are both aware that the world has changed forever and that the days of cheap oil are gone forever.  We both are very concerned about the effects of rising electricity costs on the “rubbah slippah” folks. So we concentrate on how to make it cheaper.

The Geothermal Working Group consists of Carlito Caliboso, Chair of the Public Utility Commission; Patrick Kahawaiola’a, President of the Keaukaha Community Association—cultural representative; Ted Peck, the State Energy Administrator in DBED; Jay Ignacio, President of HELCO;  Nelson Ho, President of the Moku Loa group of the Sierra Club; Robert Lindsey, Hawaii Island OHA trustee; Jacqui Hoover, executive Director HLPC-West Side Representative; Barry Mizuno, HIEDB; Wally Ishibashi, Big Island Labor Alliance, co-chair; Richard Ha, Hamakua Springs, co-chair.

This is a group of people who can get things done. And because this is so important, we will get things done.

The world is changing and it’s no longer business as usual. It’s hard to say all this without sounding like an alarmist, and I don’t want to do that. But this is pretty serious and we don’t have the luxury to philosophize about it. There’s no time.

Here are articles from the Hilo and Kona papers today about Wednesday’s meeting:

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2010/06/03/local_news/local02.txt
http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2010/06/03/local/local03.txt

And these are the introductory comments I made at Wednesday’s inaugural meeting of the Geothermal Working Group:

Aloha everyone for taking the time to help us analyze the possibility of using geothermal for the primary base power for the Big Island. Thanks to the Big Island Labor Alliance and its geothermal committee and Senator Kokubun who introduced resolution SCR99 in the legislature. And to Mayor Kenoi and the County of Hawaii for their strong support for the working group efforts.

We are here today at the first meeting of the working group and we are charged with providing an interim report 20 days before the start of the 2011 legislative session. We do not have much time to do our work.

The winds of change are blowing across the world. The end of cheap oil is upon us and it will change our lives forever. The less fortunate among us are especially vulnerable. Unlike most people in the world, however, we have an opportunity to adapt and cope effectively. If we are wise, we will find ways to use this gift of geothermal energy to help us cope.

I was the only person from Hawaii to attend the Peak Oil conference in Houston in 2007 and again this past October in Denver. Peak Oil is not about running out of oil. We won’t ever run out of oil. We are running out of cheap oil—the oil we can afford to burn.

The first thing I learned at the conferences was the concept of Energy Return on Investment (EROI). Organisms, societies and civilizations operate on the idea of excess energy. It takes excess energy for a species to survive. Take the cheetah — it needs to run down, catch and eat the antelope to get enough energy to feed the kids, miss a couple more, feed the kids and still have the energy to catch another. It takes excess energy for a species to survive and prosper. Without excess energy, the species goes extinct. So it is with societies and civilizations.

In the 1930s, the energy in one barrel of oil got us a hundred more barrels; in the 1970s, one barrel got us 30. Now, because it is more difficult to find, one barrel gets us 10.  This trend is not good. At some point, we will come to the point of negative EROI.

It is estimated that it takes a minimum EROI of 3 to 1 to maintain the petroleum infrastructure. Then there will be oil left in the ground, but it will just take more energy than we get out of it. So we just have to leave it.  It is noteworthy that the EROI of biofuels is less than 2 to 1.

While the EROI of oil is 10 to 1 and steadily declining until no sense dig anymore, the EROI of geothermal is approximately 10 to 1 — and it will stay steady for centuries. According to HELCO’s website, geothermal energy costs approximately 11 cents per KWH. It is, by far, the cheapest form of base power. Geothermal energy is proven technology; it is cheap and it is a gift for us to use wisely.

The other important thing I took away from the Peak Oil conference was the status of world oil supplies. Oil fields age naturally, and when accumulated we find that the world oil fields are declining annually at the rate of 4 million barrels per day. There are about 6 million barrels per day of excess capacity. This means that just due to old age—4 million barrels per day—we will go through the excess capacity in less than a year and a half. After that, we must live on what we find. And we have not found giant oil fields since 1970.

To put things in perspective, Saudi Arabia produces a little more than 10 million barrels per day. To make up for the 4 million shortfall due to aging oil fields, we need to find the equivalent of a Saudi Arabia every two and a half years.

Can we do that? Most studies that I see don’t think so. Most likely, we will be able to make up half of the decline rate of the aging oil fields. So after we go through the reserves in a year and a half or less, we will then be short of what we are using today. That is why we know that we are coming to the end of the era of cheap oil.

But we on the Big Island have the gift of geothermal. It is cheap, it works and it can even be used for transportation. Soon, the Big Island will have some buses running on hydrogen.

And if we store it in the propane infrastructure, we can have a strategic reserve. Geothermal is the gift that we can give to future generations.
Although we are approaching the end of the era of cheap oil, things are very hopeful here on the Big Island. Although there are thousand reasons why no can, the question is will we be wise enough to find the one reason why, ‘CAN!’? That’s why we all are here.

Thanks for agreeing to do this important work.

Renewable Energy Sources

Hydrogen Buses on the Big Island?

We may soon see hydrogen buses carrying passengers here on the Big Island.

Rick Rocheleau, Director of the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI), just gave me a glimpse into the future when he talked about a project he has submitted to the Department of Energy for funding.

Basically, he will take geothermal-generated electricity and run it through water to separate the hydrogen. A mobile fueling station will fuel up five hydrogen buses, which will be run by the County Transit Service.

Later, when the project moves into Phase 2, the hydrogen can be converted into ammonia, which can then be used for fertilizer and as an energy carrier.

Ammonia is more energy-dense than straight hydrogen. Maybe we could store it in a strategic reserve. Just thinking out loud.

From Dr. Rocheleau’s presentation:

The objective of this program is to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing a hydrogen production and storage system as a grid management tool to mitigate the impacts of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal, on the Big Island.   Hydrogen produced from the system would be used for a variety of value-added products, including use as a transportation fuel, as a fuel for stationary fuel cell products, and if budget allows in Phase 2, continue development of hydrogen as a chemical feedstock for the production of ammonia to be used as fertilizer and / or a chemical hydrogen carrier.  Optimized use of the electrolyzer, storage and secondary generation, and high value products is intended to increase the use of renewable energy resources, and reduce barriers to the introduction of the hydrogen infrastructure required to advance the “Hydrogen Economy.”

The following figure provides a conceptual illustration of a renewable hydrogen energy system used to produce hydrogen for energy, fuel, and chemical feedstock while also providing grid ancillary services.

Image003

Figure 1: Hydrogen Energy System

The system has three main components.  The first component is an electrolyzer that operates as a controllable load that provides ancillary services to the grid.  A second component, shown in the box on the lower right of the figure, is a set of value added products that utilize hydrogen for transportation fuels and producing fertilizer.  The third main component of the system, shown in the box on the upper right of the diagram, is additional grid services enabled by the hydrogen and oxygen produced by the electrolyzer.  The latter box shows three different potential electricity generating technologies than can used to produce power for additional grid services: fuel cell, steam turbine, and internal combustion engine.

A unique element of the overall program is the demonstration of the electrolyzer as a controllable variable load that can potentially provide grid services such as:

·         Up regulation
·         Down regulation
·         Off peak load (relieving curtailment of as available renewable energy)

In this mode, the electrolyzer would be operated around a production rate that would be determined by the demand for transportation fuels, auxiliary power, and chemical feedstock.  The electrolyzer would have the ability to reduce its load (ramp down) in response to a loss of generation on the system.  This capability to quickly drop load is equivalent to up regulation carried by generating units on the system.  The hydrogen energy system could also provide quick-responding increase in load (ramp up) that would be useful in loss-of-load events, such as a loss of transmission lines.  For this service, the difference between the maximum capacity of the electrolyzer and the steady state defines the ability of the electrolyzer to provide down regulation.

Geothermal, Government, Renewable Energy Sources

Who Will Be Our True Leaders? We’ll See

Who will be our true leaders?

From International Energy Association data, we know that future oil supply will start to decline in a very short time. Oil fields age and decline naturally. It is estimated that all the world oil fields combined decline in production at the rate of 4 million barrels per day every year.

Today we have about 6 million barrels of oil per day of spare capacity, mostly in the Middle East.  In a year and a half,  due to the natural decline rate of 4 million barrels per day, we will use up all the 6 million barrel spare capacity.

When that happens we will start down the back side of the world oil supply curve  — never to return. This means that every two and a half years we will need to find the equivalent of a Saudi Arabia (which produces a little more than 10 million barrels per day) just to keep up with aging and declining oil fields.

But it is estimated that we will only be able to bring on 2 million barrels per day in new production when we need 4 million barrels per day just to keep up with the aging oil fields. After we go through the spare capacity, in about a year and a half, we will then be short two million barrels per day every year after that. In short time we will see $200 oil. That will mean gas will be higher than $7 per gallon. It will cost more than $100 to fill a small car’s gas tank.

Folks who can afford to will leave the electric grid as fast as they can, leaving the rubbah slippah folks and small businesses to pay for the cost of the electric grid.  We cannot let that happen if we can avoid it.

Unlike most of the people in the world we in Hawai‘i are very fortunate; we do have a solution.

We can go to cheap geothermal for our base power. If we get cheap electricity as a result, then more people are apt to stay on the grid. Cheap electricity makes electric cars more attractive. More people on the grid spreads the cost of the grid, resulting in lower rates for everyone.

As we all know, it’s the folks on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder that will get their lights turned off first. It’s a good chance they will be our Hawaiian brothers and sisters.

We cannot let that happen and profess to value the Hawaiian culture.

And here is a practical benefit: When the price of oil rises over time, as we know it will, our stable electricity rates will make us relatively more competitive to the rest of the world. Our people will have a higher standard of living compared to others.

For the sake of our future generations here, let’s get off that oil train and switch to geothermal.

Many of our leaders know about the oil situation. But many of them are afraid to take a stand, fearing that it might be too controversial.

We will soon find out who our true leaders really are!

Government, Renewable Energy Sources

Energy Meetings

I’m getting myself up to speed for a Hawai‘i Clean Energy
Initiative steering committee meeting on Thursday.

I’m on O‘ahu right now, for three days of meetings with
various energy-related Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism working groups. They’ve been working on biofuels, electricity, end-use efficiency and transportation issues for a couple of years now. Among other things, I heard an update on various possible configurations of undersea cables.

These working groups will be handing off their work to the
steering committee for policy making and implementation.

The whole energy subject is very complex. I’m glad I bring a
farmer’s perspective; it helps me cut to the chase very quickly.

This is very interesting! And it is very serious business.

Geothermal, Government, Renewable Energy Sources

Richard Appointed as Co-Chair of Working Group to Analyze Geothermal on Big Island

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The Big Island Labor Alliance’s Geothermal Committee initiated SCR99:

REQUESTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A WORKING GROUP TO ANALYZE THE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY AS THE PRIMARY ENERGY SOURCE TO MEET THE BASELOAD DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY ON THE BIG ISLAND.

Senator Kokubun wrote the bill. It was heard at both houses’ energy committees, as well as the Senate’s Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs committees. It passed unanimously through all the committees.

I gave testimony to the Senate committees, pointing out that geothermal is the cheapest form of “base power.” I told them I am concerned that the utilities are encouraging the use of biofuels to power electric generators. Biofuels are much more expensive than geothermal-powered electricity. And it is the folks on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder who will get their lights turned off first, I reminded them, and that is most likely to be Hawaiians.

The County of Hawai‘i will be the lead agency, ensuring that this project will be accomplished in a timely manner. Mayor Billy Kenoi indicated that Wally Ishibashi and myself would be co-chairs of this working group. Wally and I work together seamlessly. We agree that we are both in favor of transparency and an open process.

The legislature wants a report 20 days before the start of the next legislative session. We will be ready to go in a few short weeks.

It is clear to us that we need to maximize geothermal energy. High electric rates don’t do anyone any good.

Here’s how SCR99 starts:

WHEREAS, in 1881, King David Kalakaua visited Thomas Edison  in New York to discuss extracting power from Hawaii’s volcanoes  and using underwater cables to carry power between islands; and

WHEREAS, at the time, his strategy did not prove to be
feasible, and hydropower was used to generate electricity to  light Honolulu; and

WHEREAS, today, technology advances make geothermal energy  not only feasible, but a top source of renewable energy; and

WHEREAS, geothermal energy is a more reliable source of
energy than solar or wind energy, because when the wind does not  blow and the sun does not shine, the heat from the volcano  continues to produce a steady flow of power; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii’s ratio of renewable energy generation (ten  per cent) to fossil fuel generation (ninety per cent) ranks  third in the nation; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Energy has
indicated that Hawaii is one of the best positioned states for  renewable energy potential; and… read more

Current Affairs, Government, Renewable Energy Sources

Electric Car Plant Coming to Oahu

Did you see this article in the Honolulu Advertiser on Friday?

Hawaii chosen as manufacturing site for electric mini-cars
S. Korea automaker to build, sell vehicles here, bringing up to 400 jobs

By Greg Wiles
Advertiser Staff Writer

A South Korea-based company has committed to build a $200 million assembly plant on O’ahu that would turn out two-seat electric cars and other vehicles and employ as many as 400 people.

CT&T Co. said it has narrowed its search to four sites on which to build a 100,000-square-foot plant from which it would also sell its elfin vehicles, which are mostly targeted at short jaunts on city and neighborhood streets.

The company and state officials announced the plans yesterday flanked by a dozen of the cars at the state Capitol. Later they signed an agreement pledging to cooperate on meeting each other’s goals….(Click here to read more)

Biofuel, Hamakua Coast, Renewable Energy Sources

Generating Electricity Is Not Hu Honua’s Biggest Challenge

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From the Hawaii Tribune-Herald (5/7/10):

Hu Honua Bioenergy LLC wants to take over the 1985 special management area or SMA permit that allowed the former Hilo Coast Processing Co. to operate a coal-burning power plant near the ocean….

…Eucalyptus trees growing along the Hamakua Coast will be harvested for fuel during the plant’s first decade of operation, according to Hu Honua’s application. The company would then look to obtain trees from private landowners clearing their properties, and also is working with the University of Hawaii at Hilo to develop a “sustainable biomass farming plan.”

On Friday, I went to the Windward Planning Commission meeting in support of Hu Honua. From the company’s website:

Hu Honua Bioenergy, LLC is a Hawaii-based company created to meet local electricity needs using renewable resources. The facility is located in Pepeekeo, Hawaii, on a 25.57-acre site on the Big Island of Hawaii.

I am supporting Hu Honua because the company says it will use biomass to generate “base power” in HELCO’s grid.  Base power is a steady, dependable source of electricity. More than 85 percent of HELCO’s electricity usage is base power.

The Hu Honua project has the potential of replacing fossil fuels in HELCO’s grid with biomass.

From my own farming experience, I feel that Hu Honua will face some challenges in sourcing its feedstock. Several years ago, when the land around the Hu Honua power plant was subdivided and put up for sale, we were informed that C. Brewer wanted to sell the land on three sides of our banana packing house. We were growing bananas there on a short term lease and were told we needed to move our bananas to a different location. When we completed that move, instead of our packing house being in the middle of our banana growing operation, it was stuck way out on one side of the farm.

In order to maintain the same amount of production, we needed to acquire more land that was even further to one side of our farm, and this made our operation inefficient. And because our packing house was no longer centered in our fields, our labor and maintenance costs went way up, to the point that we had to downsize and reorganize our entire farming operation.

Similarly, Hu Honua’s generation plant would have benefitted from being sited in the middle of its production supply. This is not possible, though, since it is bordered by the ocean on one side and subdivisions on the other. Consequently, labor and fossil fuel costs will be a larger part of their operation than would have been optimum.

When they try to grow their own sustainable biocrop in 10 years, they’ll have the same problem we did. I’ve tried to guess where the large land parcel supporting five to six trucks of biomass per hour will be located, and I don’t know where that place will be.

For 10 miles in either direction, rainfall averages approximately 120 inches per year. Our farm, just a couple of miles up the road, has an average rainfall of 140 inches per year. High rainfall, deep soil and steep terrain make for a challenging agricultural environment.

I do support Hu Honua, but I worry they may not be successful in developing a “sustainable biomass farming plan.”

Biofuel, Community, Eating Locally, Food Security, Mauna Kea, Renewable Energy Sources, Schools, Science, Water

It Takes A Community

It’s been a busy few days.

Last Wednesday evening, Don Thomas, a geologist from UH Hilo, accompanied me to a meeting of the Keaukaha Community Association where he described two drilling projects. The first was a 3,000 ft. or so pilot hole sunk by the Hilo breakwater. It was a test to see if the concept of drilling to acquire a profile of the land was feasible. The second was a much deeper hole on the National Guard side of the Hilo airport. This was a part of a National Science Foundation-funded study. It was meant to gather information on the formation of the Big Island by studying the layers of lava as the hole was drilled deeper and deeper.

The background as I understand it: In eartlier days, only the Kohala Mountain range, Hualalai and Mauna Kea protruded above the ocean. Then Mauna Loa erupted and the Hilo side of Mauna Kea was covered by Mauna Loa’s lava.

Core samples showed that there was Mauna Loa lava atop soil from Mauna Kea, much like the kind of material you see on the Hilo/Hamakua coast. Then, as the drill went deeper, they found fresh water at 160 lbs. of pressure in the Mauna Kea lava, way below the surface of the ocean. This is what’s called an artesian well, and is when you get water shooting out under pressure from the surface of the land. That means that this water is under pressure from water that is pushing against it.

As I understand it, drill deep enough and water will just shoot out of the ground. I’ll ask Don what all this means and report back here.

I saw Luana Kawelu at the Keaukaha Community Association meeting Wednesday night. Kumu Lehua calls her one of the “Gang of Three” (with Patrick Kahawaiola‘a) — the folks who together help to make Keaukaha Elementary School the excellent school that it is. She is also the driving force behind the Merrie Monarch Festival. She has never let marketing and dreams of bigger and better things cloud her judgment. She just focuses on the pono thing. I cannot imagine how the Merrie Monarch Festival could be done better. “Pono” is way good enough.

Thursday, I flew to Maui to visit supermarkets as part of my marketing involvement with the new organic farm at Kapalua called WeFarm@Kapalua. This organic farm is on former Maui Pineapple Company lands and consists of approximately 158 acres. David Cole, the former CEO of Maui Land and Pine, started the organic farm awhile ago. When MLP got out of pineapple, the Ulupono Initiative submitted a bid to take over the former organic farm. From the Ulupono Initiative website:

Ulupono Sustainable Agriculture Development LLC, a subsidiary of the Ulupono Initiative, announced today that it would be assuming operations of Kapalua Farms, an organic farming and agriculture research facility located near the entry of the Kapalua Resort in West Maui.  Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc., owners of the 158-acre agricultural parcel, successfully reached an agreement with Ulupono earlier this month, with the transition of the property already underway.
 
“We are pleased to partner with Ulupono Sustainable Agriculture Development as they assume operations of Kapalua Farms,” said Warren H. Haruki, chairman and interim CEO of Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc.  “Our desire was to find an operational partner that would be able to continue organic farming operations and to maintain Kapalua Farms as a community resource, employer, and provider.  Ulupono is an exemplary organization committed to preserving our agricultural land, and we look forward to working together.”

I am especially pleased to be working with the Ulupono Initiative and WeFarm@Kapalua because I watched Jeff Alvord put this initiative together over the last several years. Jeff would call when he was in town and we would talk about the larger picture of a sustainable Hawai‘i. I knew from early on that the Omidyar Group had the best interest of Hawai‘i at heart. I’m very happy to be closely involved with this new organic farming initiative.

Later, when I made my way to the Maui airport, I ran into Stevie Whalen, the President of the Hawai‘i Ag Research Center, which is the modern-day iteration of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association’s research arm.

Founded in 1895, the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association (HSPA), dedicated to improving the sugar industry in
Hawaii, has become an internationally recognized research center. Its name change in 1996 to Hawaii Agriculture Research Center (HARC) reflects its expanding scope to encompass research in forestry, coffee, forage, vegetable crops, tropical fruits, and many other diversified crops in addition to sugarcane. HARC is a private, non-profit 501c5 organization.

HARC specializes in horticultural crop research including agronomy and plant nutrition, plant physiology, breeding, genetic engineering and tissue culture, and control of diseases and pests through integrated pest management. HARC also performs pesticide registration work; training in areas such as pesticide application and environmental compliance; ground water monitoring; and technical
literature searches.

Stevie was on Maui to help provide research info about new biocrop possibilities that could possibly be the base feedstock that would provide the U.S. Navy the kind of second and third generation fuel that it could use to fly its jet planes and run its ships. Liquid transportation fuel is very important for us living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It will take a huge research effort to develop high-yielding bio feedstock. It will not just happen miraculously, out of the blue. I have the utmost confidence in Stevie and her HARC crew, as well as Andy Hashimoto and the CTAHR crew.

Stevie told me that it’s becoming evident that biofuel production will need to use the added value of co-products to make it an economically viable form of energy. There is no doubt that we want to develop a biofuel that will eventually be cost-competitive with fossil fuels. I am very aware that much more work needs to be done.

Then, on the plane back to Hilo, I ended up sitting next to Arnold Hara, extension entomologist for UH Manoa. He was on Maui as part of a project to intensively inspect imported produce coming from the mainland and foreign countries. He was very concerned about the amount of invasive species insects that are being found on imported organic produce. He called imported organic produce “dirty.” He meant that there are lots of hitchhikers on organic produce. It is very worrisome.

I’ll call him tomorrow and ask what varieties of organic produce we should grow to replace imported organic produce. I’m very happy to be associated with WeFarm@Kapalua, where we can help to protect Hawai‘i from invasive species.

Renewable Energy Sources

Europe’s Waste-To-Energy Plants

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Have a look at this New York Times article:

Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: April 12, 2010

HORSHOLM, Denmark — The lawyers and engineers who dwell in an elegant enclave here are at peace with the hulking neighbor just over the back fence: a vast energy plant that burns thousands of tons of household garbage and industrial waste, round the clock.

Far cleaner than conventional incinerators, this new type of plant converts local trash into heat and electricity. Dozens of filters catch pollutants, from mercury to dioxin, that would have emerged from its smokestack only a decade ago.… Read more

It talks about a new generation of waste-to-energy plant, where metals, plastics and other recyclables are removed before combustibles are burned. The resulting dioxin emissions are less than what comes from backyard barbeques. People live really close to these plants.

Here is a video of one of these waste-to-energy plants that are now popping up all over Europe.

Reggie Castanares, Business Manager of the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Union, told us about visiting one of these plants in Germany. He said he stood right next to a truck dumping municipal garbage and could not even smell it because of the suction that pulled the air into the system.

More about this to follow.