Waste Management Fires Up New Trash-to-Gas Project

Published May 28, 2009

Waste Management already generates renewable energy by incinerating trash and converting methane from its miles of landfills.

Now the company is wading into a new venture that can turn garbage into synthetic gas for heating, ethanol or electricity. The move also gets Waste Management closer to its goals of doubling renewable energy production by 2020 and investing in new waste technologies.

Houston-based Waste Management and InEnTec LLC have formed a 50-50 joint venture developing plasma gasification facilities to process waste. The joint venture, called S4 Energy Solutions, will use InEnTec’s Plasma Enhanced Melter technology, while Waste Management will offer its waste collection and management expertise.

As the technology’s name suggests, an electricity-conducting gas known as plasma heats the waste to between 10,000 and 20,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which transforms the garbage into synthetic gas, also called syngas.

InEnTec's Plasma Enhanced Melter technology will begin processing industrial byproducts at Dow Corning's Midland, Mich., facility in late 2009.

The syngas can be converted to electricity, diesel or ethanol, a natural gas substitute, or industrial products such as hydrogen or methanol.

The technology can process several types of waste, including radioactive and old tires, but the venture will begin with medical and other commercial and industrial wastes because they are of “high-energy value” and can produce renewable fuels, products and possibly energy.

S4 Energy Solutions also will work to make the technology both economical and scalable in order to one day process municipal solid waste.

The technology is being used in Japan, Taiwan, and Richland, Va.; a plant at a Michigan-based Dow Corning facility is now under construction.

Image source: InEnTec

trash to gas = green energy

Anonymous, June 2, 2009 - 16:06

Kudos to Waste Management for investing in waste technologies. Why not convert trash to alternative energy -- unfortunately, waste will always be generated and I'd rather see it converted to green energy than fill up more landfills.

Greenwashing

Anonymous, June 1, 2009 - 13:55

Branding incineration of mixed solid waste as a clean and renewable source of energy is green washing and takes us backwards while we waste time and money on these brown projects instead of getting on with real investments in zero waste.

This is alternative not renewable

Anonymous, May 30, 2009 - 15:31

if renewable energy is “energy sources that are naturally replenishing but flow limited," it is hard to imagine that definition being applied to incinerating of refuse. it is alternative energy probably, but it is surely not renewable except in the most perverse of definitions.

"renewable" ?

Anonymous, May 29, 2009 - 17:33

how is burning trash a renewable energy source? do tires and radioactive waste now grow on trees (or amongst the algae and switchgrass) ?

this makes no sense: spend a huge amount of energy to turn trash into fuel, then burn that? How can that reduce greenhouse emissions?

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Waste Management Fires Up New Trash-to-Gas Project

trash to gas = green energy

Greenwashing

This is alternative not renewable

"renewable" ?

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