Three gasification plants which turn waste into energy would be an ideal solution to solve Malta’s waste problems, said Azzjoni Nazzjonali leader Josie Muscat.
Speaking while touring a gasification plant in London on Tuesday, Dr Muscat said the country should invest in new clean technology that turns waste into energy with the least impact on people.
Peter Stein, inventor of the Stein Gasification Process illustrated his project to AN members and Maltese media, in which he confirmed that his invention could turn any waste into electricity with clean air and char as the only by products.
Unlike incinerators, said Mr Stein, gasification does not use oxygen and therefore does not produce dioxins. Through different modes, said the inventor, the gasifier could also produce vitrified slag that could be used in construction, biofuel or hydrogen.
The plant, which can be housed in 3,000 square metres can process three tonnes of waste per hour and could be operated round the clock almost unattended. Mr Stein said water produced by the plant in England was disposed of in streams as it was of good quality while the char is used to heat the plant.
While stressing the need for recycling, he said that his plant could gasify anything, as long as it fits the plant’s intake chute.
The British inventor added that his gasifier was much less noisy than lorries used to deliver waste and is virtually odourless. Due to its small size, he said, gasifiers could be installed near waste dumps in order to save on waste transportation costs, both pecuniary as well as environmental. Mr Stein said he designed his invention to be installed on the periphery of a small village without hindering the villagers’ lives.
Dr Muscat told Mr Stein that the government had just installed a new recycling plant in Marsascala, which produced compost. The inventor said he disagreed with compost producing plants as they produced methane, which was a major contributor to the greenhouse effect.
The AN leader proposed that three such plants should be installed, one in Gozo, one in the north of Malta and another one in the south. He said that the low running costs of the gasifier as well as its lack of negative effects on the environment would be an elegant solution to the waste problems of Malta.
While the Sant’ Antnin Recycling Plant was built on a 47,500 square metres footprint and could cater for the electricity needs of 1,400 houses, the 3,000 square metres gasifier plant in London, which handled half a tonne of waste per hour, could supply 2,000 houses with electricity.
Dr Muscat said Sant’ Antnin Recycling Plant should be dismantled and a gasifier put in its place while the excess land should be rehabilitated. He criticised the government for investing in a compost producing plant when it could guarantee that it could sell the compost produced.
The gasifier is placed near an Olympic structure-to be in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics and is very close to the childhood home of British Grammy Award Winner Amy Winehouse.