Waste to Energy vs Zero Waste

This is the first of two parts on Waste to Energy. Read the follow-up here.


The County of Kaua'i, for good reason, is making waste diversion a priority for the coming year. They just closed their Request for Information (RFI) on waste diversion technologies and systems after receiving eight responses. The proposal that some elected officials seem most excited about came from Pelatron Q for a waste-to-energy facility. If their proposal comes to fruition, it would divert 75,000 tons a year from the Kekaha landfill, it would add 8 MW of energy to our grid displacing up to 30,000 barrels of oil annually, and it would allow Mayor Carvalho to keep his campaign promise of building a Materials Recovery Facility (to separate and sort recyclables from trash). And, since it's a Public Private Partnership it won't cost the county a dime. If we ignore the fine print, it's perfect.

While the absence of any successful plasma gasification plants in the US is disconcerting, it's the inherent contradiction of waste-to-energy and zero waste that really worries me. 

On October 19, 2011, the Kaua'i County Council unanimously adopted a Zero Waste Resolution, committing to diverting 70% of Kaua'i's waste by 2023 through the principles of zero waste. In the County's words: 

Rather than looking at our production systems as one way and linear, we can redesign them to be cyclical, as in nature, where there is no such thing as “waste” and materials are kept in the production cycle. Zero Waste is emerging as a paradigm shift, a new, comprehensive socio-technical system that addresses our resource use from product design to disposal.

Zero Waste is a design principle for the 21^st century. A system where instead of buy, use, then throw away, we focus on:

• Reducing: Not creating waste in the first place ... Reducing consumption, minimizing packaging, buying in bulk, buying longer lasting durable goods,
• Reusing: Finding another home for things we no longer want or need, or finding new uses for things that are no longer suitable for their original purpose.
• Recycling: Turning our discards into new products. Saving energy and conserving valuable natural resources.

Using the estimates in Pelatron Q's proposal, Kaua'i will be creating somewhere around 100,000 tons of annual waste by 2023. The Zero Waste Resolution calls for diverting (through reducing, reusing, and recycling) 70% of that, leaving 30,000 tons for the landfill.

So, there will be an estimated 30,000 tons available for the plasma gasification plant. What's the problem? That's only 40% of the proposed generation capacity of the plant. And, the fine print of the Pelatron Q proposal contains this financial sinkhole for the County:

To cover debt service obligations, Pelatron Q is required to have guarantees that a minimum amount of feedstock (MSW) is available. A loss of ability to operate the plant due to a significant and prolonged drop in the supply of feedstock that resulted in violation of minimum electrical output requirements as specified in the PPA, could trigger damages per the terms of the PPA. Typically, the guarantee of the county must match the loss of revenue or damages associated with that specific clause in the PPA terms and conditions.

Meaning that if the county is successful in pursuing zero waste as outlined in their unanimously adopted resolution, there won't be enough waste to supply the plasma generator with feedstock and the county will then be responsible to "match the loss of revenue or damages" associated with the decline in electrical output. And there lies the problem with waste to energy: it incentivizes the creation of waste and disincentivizes recycling of plastic, cardboard, and composting of agricultural products (glass and metals will be seperated). The County's Zero Waste Resolution and the current proposal are incompatible simply because following the resolution ensures that there won't be enough waste available to use as feedstock. So, what's the solution?

Simple, just expand the meaning of diversion (which, in the Zero Waste Resolution means reusing, reducing, and recycling) to include burning. "This PPP will further the County's goals of zero waste disposal by… achieving the County's diversion goal of 70% diversion by 2023 in the first year of commercial operation." One beautifully simple sentence at the very end of the Pelatron Q proposal reconciles the inherent incompatibility of zero waste and waste to energy by expanding the meaning of diversion to include burning. If that seems deceptive to you, I agree.

Before going any further with waste to energy the county should clarify that diversion, as used in the Zero Waste Resolution, does not include burning and clearly state that the current Pelatron Q proposal is oppositional to the Zero Waste Resolution. If the bill ever comes before the council to guarantee feedstock for a waste-to-energy facility, and if the feedstock amount is greater than 30,000 tons (remember, Pelatron Q is looking for 75,000 tons while only 30,000 should be available with implementation of the Zero Waste Resolution) then, for transparency, the bill should include language clarifying that it contradicts Kaua'i's Zero Waste Resolution and that a vote for waste-to-energy is a vote against zero waste. 

But, on the other hand, if the technology is proven to be commercially viable, it could have the potential to significantly reduce our island's carbon footprint and reduce the amount of toxic materials in the environment. With the goal of the Zero Waste Resolution being 70% diversion, we are still going to have 30,000 annual tons of waste to dispose of and a massive toxic landfill which is leaking into the surrounding area and releasing plumes of methane. So, there is room for plasma gasification of the remaining 30,000 tons and for hundreds of thousands of tons if the Kekaha landfill is mined. Reduction of waste, and the recycling of cardboard, plastics, and composting of biowaste (which would all be burned under the current proposal) should be aggressively pursued and only non-recyclables and current landfilled waste used in a waste-to-energy plant.

Before I close, it's important that we don't conflate the very different technologies of traditional incineration with plasma gasification. While there are huge emissions concerns with incineration (like burning trash in your backyard, it all goes into the air), the extreme heat of the plasma gasification technology makes it significantly cleaner. Because of the oxygen deprived atmosphere where the gasification occurs, dioxins are eliminated and carbon dioxide can't form. Also, because it will eliminate the potent greenhouse gas methane (released from anaerobic decomposition in landfills) it theoretically will result in less emissions than standard decomposition. Most importantly, when you take into account the avoided diesel or naptha fuel (as currently burned by KIUC), it definitely could reduce our island's carbon footprint and provide necessary baseline power.

While the process has been used in steel foundries, disposal of chemical weapons, and is part of the technology behind clean coal, there are currently no commercial plasma waste-to-energy plants in the US. One plant in Japan produces an electrical output of only 4.3MW (a little more than half of the proposed Kaua'i plant) while processing well over 100,000 annual tons of trash (30% more than Kaua'i plant). A similar project has been under development in St. Lucie Florida since 2004 and was slated to go on-line in 2011 yet a lack of financing led to the abandonment of the project in 2012. The VP of a proposed facility in Tallahassee, Florida was quoted by Biomass Magazine as saying: "I think as soon as several of these get on line and operating, and people gain some confidence, you'll see them widespread. However, somebody has to be the first so that others can use that as a blueprint for success going forward." Shortly afterwards their project also collapsed. There appear to be a lot of companies claiming they can reproduce the technology but, so far in the US, nobody is successfully using plasma gasification for waste-to-energy on a commercial scale. 

There is room for a dialogue on the benefits of plasma gasification. However, I hope that the county does its due diligence in ensuring that the technology is commercially feasible, that emissions are as low as stated, that they have a plan for disposal of the sludge byproduct, and, most importantly, that they effectively reconcile it (by lowering the feedstock minimums to account for non-recyclables only) with our current zero waste plan and clearly state that the proposed plan is oppositional to the County's Zero Waste Resolution.

Check out this video for an explanation of the proposed technology. 

The Antidote to Becoming an Internet Asshole

Recently, while waiting for the bus and grieving over the calamity of a dead Iphone battery, I was forced to watch as a guy about my age wearing surf shorts, slippers and no t-shirt attempted to hitch-hike in front of the Kapa’a Big Save bus stop. Because of the nearby dried vomit, the elusive smell of urine, and the lack of social media to distract me-- I kept myself entertained by imagining the look of growing confusion on his face as the minutes ticked by and the cars continued to zoom passed. Finally, the bus arrived 25 minutes late and we both got on together. He said to me "half an hour and nobody picked me up." While I desperately wanted to explain, "it's because you’re covered in sweat and don't have a shirt on," I just politely muttered, "hmmm… weird."

A woman, who seemed more socially accepting of shirtless guys on the bus, or possibly just attracted to the crippling smell of over-ripe Noni, walked up to him with a three finger ET imitation and said, "peace, love, happiness bro, I'm Aurora nice to meet you." He put three fingers up to hers and responded "peace, love, happiness Aurora, my name's Seabliss." With my mind temporarily blown over the discovery of a secret hippy handshake, I missed hearing how the conversation transitioned to the power of Kaua'i's ocean as a physical manifestation of mother Earth's womb; but apparently the ocean here is "where we all come from."

The bus, which had standing room only when I got on (44 people and 32 seats) continued to fill up as we drove through Kapa'a, pushing me further towards the back until I was shoulder to shoulder with the high school sophomores on their weekend pilgrimage to Kukui Grove. When the conversation transitioned from comparing Kapa'a High iPhone fight videos (Ona vs. Chaz seemed like a popular one) to "licking 'okole," I did my best to scoot myself back to the front.

At the stop across from Kintaros a new load of people came on, forcing me again to the back of the bus. Thankfully the conversation had moved on and the sexually liberated high schoolers were now comparing the amount of Instagram followers they each had. All six of them finally lifted their downturned eyes away from their phones when one of the boys exclaimed with disgust that he just got a follow request from a girl who only has 70 followers of her own. "Ew," one of the other girls said, "you know dat Spenc get ten tousan’ followas? 'As why he get all da chicks." With her prophetic words hanging in the air, their heads went back down in unison to continue the hard cultivation of their online personas.

The Hanama'ulu stop nearly emptied the bus and, in order to ensure that my look of bewildered generational disconnect didn't get immortalized in any of their constant stream of Snapchats, I scooted back towards the front. Where my shirtless hitchhiking friend who came to Kaua'i to be re-united with the ocean womb of mother Earth was now engaged in an animated conversation with an elderly local guy. I came up just in time to hear him ask "there an accident or does it always take this long to get through Kapa'a?" The elderly guy answered simply, "get too many fucking people." Shirt-less dude responded "no kidding, huh." Neither of them with any apparent irony or targeted sarcasm.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally got off the bus and found an outlet to charge my phone. Life is simpler on social media where it's easy to forget that at the end of the great internet divide there is a human behind the screen. In online confrontations I resort to condescension and repetitive recitals of the same facts, and, in return, I get self-righteous indignation. Complex motives and experiences get simplified into base emotions and simplified rhetoric. When a politician takes a strong ideological stand, she's a self-serving hypocrite looking merely for political advancement. When a farmer goes to work on the west side, they're a greedy baby killing chemical corporation sell-out. When a passionate youth holds a sign at a rally, he's an anti-ag hippy with no idea what farming means. People don't exist online, just circular logic, entrenched positions, and extreme tribalism.

The biggest transition that our island is facing isn't ag, hotels, or residential development-- it's our newfound ability to isolate ourselves into self contained opinion bubbles. Instead of the integration that made Hawai'i a melting pot and humility a way of life, our new digital separation makes empathy and compassion handicaps in the increasing fervor of our verbal warfare and simplified memes. While I find myself continually slipping into that partisan abyss, the bus remains a necessary dose of human reality.

My internet hardened blogging persona cringes at how trite this is about to sound, but, I have to get it out-- we're all in this together.