As Ho Chi Minh City residents and businesses dump huge volumes of wasteevery day, authorities are exploring ways to generate energy fromwaste.
A report by the Department of Natural Resourcesand Environment said efforts have been made to generate power andcollect methane from landfills around the city.
Dr NguyenTrung Viet, head of the department's Solid Waste Management Division,said a power generation facility based in the Go Cat landfill since 2005had been generating 0.95MW. It has a capacity of 25MW.
GoCat is among the five rubbish dumps that have been closed, the othersbeing Dong Thanh, Phuoc Hiep 1, Phuoc Hiep, and Da Phuoc.
Viet said the energy potential of land-fill waste, including by usinggases collected from them, burning waste for electricity, and collectingmethane for fuel, was huge since the city generated around 7,500 tonnesof solid waste every day.
"Producing renewable energyfrom waste is economically and technically feasible when the waste ishighly bio-degradable and contains moisture," he said.
"Gases emitted by landfills contain around 65 percent methane.
"The city endures the pollution from waste for a long time and spendsmore than 700 billion VND (34 million USD) each year to treat waste. Itmeans the city has wasted thousands of billions of dong to destroysources of renewable energy."
Keppel Seghers of Singaporeand the local Tam Sinh Nghia Joint-stock Company plan to build two powerplants operated by burning solid waste which can generate a combined80MW.
Each plant will use 2,000 tonnes of waste a day at full capacity.
Viet said the city was seeking investment in generating energy fromwaste, and several companies from the US and the Republic of Korea wereinterested. The projects have been held up only because of the low priceof 4 cent for a KWh of electricity offered by the Electricity ofVietnam (EVN), he said.
Addressing a workshop on thedevelopment of HCM City into a low-carbon society, Prof Seiichi Ishikawaof the Japanese University of Kitakyushu's environmental engineeringfaculty said the city should have a better collection system to achievethe 3R's – recycle, reuse, and reduce.
That would help improve treatment at the landfills for energy recovery, he added./.
A report by the Department of Natural Resourcesand Environment said efforts have been made to generate power andcollect methane from landfills around the city.
Dr NguyenTrung Viet, head of the department's Solid Waste Management Division,said a power generation facility based in the Go Cat landfill since 2005had been generating 0.95MW. It has a capacity of 25MW.
GoCat is among the five rubbish dumps that have been closed, the othersbeing Dong Thanh, Phuoc Hiep 1, Phuoc Hiep, and Da Phuoc.
Viet said the energy potential of land-fill waste, including by usinggases collected from them, burning waste for electricity, and collectingmethane for fuel, was huge since the city generated around 7,500 tonnesof solid waste every day.
"Producing renewable energyfrom waste is economically and technically feasible when the waste ishighly bio-degradable and contains moisture," he said.
"Gases emitted by landfills contain around 65 percent methane.
"The city endures the pollution from waste for a long time and spendsmore than 700 billion VND (34 million USD) each year to treat waste. Itmeans the city has wasted thousands of billions of dong to destroysources of renewable energy."
Keppel Seghers of Singaporeand the local Tam Sinh Nghia Joint-stock Company plan to build two powerplants operated by burning solid waste which can generate a combined80MW.
Each plant will use 2,000 tonnes of waste a day at full capacity.
Viet said the city was seeking investment in generating energy fromwaste, and several companies from the US and the Republic of Korea wereinterested. The projects have been held up only because of the low priceof 4 cent for a KWh of electricity offered by the Electricity ofVietnam (EVN), he said.
Addressing a workshop on thedevelopment of HCM City into a low-carbon society, Prof Seiichi Ishikawaof the Japanese University of Kitakyushu's environmental engineeringfaculty said the city should have a better collection system to achievethe 3R's – recycle, reuse, and reduce.
That would help improve treatment at the landfills for energy recovery, he added./.
