Electrical Energy From Waste- Durban South Africa
Summary
TLDRThe Durban solid waste project in South Africa is pioneering green technology by generating electricity from landfill gas. With 4,000 tons of waste processed daily, methane is extracted and used to power engines, producing electricity for up to 6,000 homes. This not only prevents 21 times the greenhouse gas emissions of CO2 but also supports the project financially through carbon credits. The initiative, funded by the World Bank and French Development Bank, is a model for sustainable waste management and climate change mitigation.
Takeaways
- 🌱 The project at Durban is pioneering green technology by creating electricity from trash at landfills.
- 🏭 Basa Road Landfill, one of the largest in southern Africa, processes about 4,000 tons of waste daily, utilizing biodegradable waste for gas extraction.
- 🔥 The landfill gas, primarily methane, is actively extracted and used as fuel to generate electricity, which is fed back into the grid.
- 📊 The system involves laying perforated pipes to collect methane from decomposing waste, which is then channeled to a power generation compound.
- 💡 The project generates enough power to supply approximately 5,000 to 6,000 low-cost houses, demonstrating its scalability.
- 🌡️ Methane, being 21 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, makes the project crucial in preventing significant CO2 emissions.
- 🌳 By capturing methane and using it instead of coal, the project contributes to major emissions reductions, equivalent to preventing 21 tons of CO2 per ton of methane.
- 💸 The City of Durban is exploring carbon credits to fund the project, highlighting the importance of carbon trading for such initiatives in developing countries.
- 🏛️ The project is supported by international funding, including from the World Bank and French Development Bank, ensuring its financial stability.
- 🌐 Local communities and municipalities are learning from Durban's model, which could inspire similar green landfill site projects elsewhere.
- 🔥 Passion is identified as a key driver for the success of such environmental projects, emphasizing the importance of personal commitment to sustainability.
Q & A
What is the main objective of the project in Durban?
-The main objective of the project in Durban is to create electricity from trash at dumps, specifically by extracting landfill gas, which is primarily methane, and using it to generate power.
How much waste does the Durban landfill process daily?
-The Durban landfill processes approximately 4,000 tons of waste per day, out of which a significant portion is biodegradable waste.
What is the role of the landfill gas extraction system?
-The landfill gas extraction system actively extracts methane from the decomposing waste. This methane is then used as a fuel to generate electricity.
How is the methane gas extracted from the landfill?
-Methane is extracted through a system of perforated pipes laid in trenches covered by hoses, which siphon the gas off the decomposing layers of garbage.
What is the capacity of methane gas extraction per well?
-Each well at the Durban landfill can extract 108 cubic meters of gas per hour.
How does the project contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions?
-By capturing and burning methane, which is 21 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, the project prevents a significant amount of CO2 equivalent emissions from being released into the atmosphere.
What is the significance of carbon credits in this project?
-Carbon credits, which represent emissions reductions, are being sold by the City of Durban to help fund the project. These credits are crucial for securing financial support for the project beyond just the revenue from electricity sales.
How many houses can the current system power?
-The current system is generating enough power to supply about 5 to 6,000 low-cost houses.
What is the role of the 'brain center' in the project?
-The 'brain center' houses the computer system that monitors the simple process of extracting landfill gas, diverting it to gas engines, and using the methane as fuel to generate electricity.
What funding sources are mentioned for the project?
-The project is funded by the World Bank and the French Development Bank, highlighting the importance of international cooperation in supporting green technology initiatives.
Why is the project not financially feasible based on electricity sales alone?
-The project is not financially feasible based on electricity sales alone due to the low cost of electricity in South Africa, which would not generate enough revenue to cover the project's costs.
What is the potential impact of this project on climate change if widely adopted?
-If widely adopted, the project has the potential to significantly slow climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the capture and utilization of methane gas from landfills.
Outlines
🌿 Transforming Waste into Power: Durban's Green Initiative
The paragraph introduces the speaker's journey in joining a green technology project that converts waste into electricity. The project is based in Durban, South Africa, and utilizes landfill gas extraction to generate power. The speaker expresses pride in their work, which has garnered respect and interest from their children. The Basa Road Landfill, one of the largest in southern Africa, processes about 4,000 tons of waste daily, with a significant portion being biodegradable. The extracted methane is used as fuel in engines that generate electricity, which is then fed back into the grid. The project not only reduces the environmental impact of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, but also contributes to carbon credits, which the city of Durban aims to sell to fund the initiative. The project's success is supported by funding from the World Bank and the French Development Bank, and it serves as a model for other communities to learn from, emphasizing the importance of passion in environmental conservation efforts.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Derpans
💡Landfill
💡Biodegradable Waste
💡Landfill Gas Extraction System
💡Methane
💡Power Generation Compound
💡Carbon Credits
💡Climate Change
💡Sustainability
💡Green Technology
💡World Bank Funding
Highlights
Father's children express pride and passion for his work in green technology.
Project Mark is pioneering electricity generation from trash in Durban, South Africa.
Durban, a city of 3.2 million, now draws power from a landfill.
Basa Road Landfill processes approximately 4,000 tons of waste daily.
Landfill gas extraction system implemented to harness methane from biodegradable waste.
Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is actively extracted and used as fuel.
Long perforated pipes siphon methane from decomposing garbage for power generation.
108 cubic meters of gas per hour are extracted from each well.
Foreign experts are amazed by the project's accomplishments in a third-world city context.
The project's brain center manages the extraction and conversion of landfill gas to electricity.
The system generates enough power for about 5,000 to 6,000 low-cost houses.
Methane is 21 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
The project prevents the release of 21 tons of CO2 for every ton of methane burned.
Durban aims to sell carbon credits to fund the project, leveraging carbon trading.
The project is financially supported by World Bank and French Development Bank funding.
Local communities and municipalities learn from Durban's landfill gas electricity project.
The project's success is dependent on securing carbon credits approval in 2010.
The project's goal is to create green landfill sites, improving the coastal city's quality of life.
Passion is identified as a key factor in the success of environmental projects.
Transcripts
well when I first told my kids that I
was joining deran soled ways they looked
at me and said I'm going to be a dpin
man today when they look at me and what
I'm doing and how much they're learning
about what their father is heading up
they only come with pride and passion
and they often come to my project Mark
right is working on the frontier of
Green Technology creating electricity
from trash at dumps around the South
African city of Durban and now this city
of 3 and2 million people is drawing
power from this surprising
Source basa Road Landfill is probably
one of the largest landfills in southern
Africa we take approximately 4,000 tons
of waste per day and a half portion of
that is biodegradable waste on that
basis the land for gas extraction system
was implemented for most people dumps
are a smelly necessity to modern living
but it's this G
the smell that contains methane in our
case we actively extract the landfall
gas through an extraction system in the
landl and take it down to the gas
compound where we then use it as a fuel
through the engines which generate the
electricity and put back into the
electricity Grid Long perforated pipes
are laid in vast trenches and then
covered these hoses siphon the methane
that comes off of the decomposing layers
of garbage this gas is channeled to the
power generation
compound 108 cubic M of gas an hour
comes from each well and foreign experts
who visit the project are amazed at what
this third world city has
accomplished here we are in the brain
center of the whole project and here we
have the computer which shows a very
simple process that takes place the
extraction of the landfall gas diverted
to the gas engines the methane is used
as the fuel to turn the engine uh which
generates the electricity and put back
into the electricity grid with the
system that we got here now and the
current rate of gas extraction we are
currently generating generating enough
power to supply about 5 to 6,000 lowcost
houses methane is 21 times as powerful a
greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide that
means that saving or burning one ton of
methane is equal to preventing 21 tons
of CO2 from being released into the
atmosphere so by preventing this gas
from escaping and using it to replace
dirty Coal Power the project is offering
a major emissions reduction that if used
widely has the power to slow climate
change these emissions reductions are
called carbon credits and the City of
Durban is trying to sell these credits
to help fund the project a developing
country like South Africa is riant on
carbon trading to fund a project of this
nature a project of this nature just on
electric electricity sales due to the
low cost of electricity would not be
financially feasible local communities
and municipalities come to learn from
the Durban solid waste and our landfill
gas electricity project and other
technologies that we Implement World
Bank funding French Development Bank
funding all part and parcel of this
process the project is secure for now
but by getting their carbon credits
approved possibly sometime in
2010 the project will be successful far
into the future creating green landfill
sites that improve the quality of life
in this coastal
city I think in any project like this
passion plays a massive role and you
have to be passionate about what you're
doing in terms of saving the environment
in any small way that you can
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