New biomass legislation presented at C&EO/Eden workshop
The C&EO/Eden DM Biomass Disposal Workshop held on 27 June 2007outlined the CCE Energy Solutions (Pty) Ltd project which is a joint venture project in George between C&EO and CEF (Pty) Ltd (formerly known as the Central Energy Fund) and new legislation surrounding the reuse and disposal of wood waste.
This biomass-to-electricity project will create 8MW of green power from approximately 70 000 tonnes per annum of biomass (wood waste) and commissioning is expected by end 2008.
As per new legislation outlined by Mr Eddie Hanekom and Mr Patrick van Coller, wood waste can no longer be open-burnt as the effects are detrimental to the environmental and pose a large and significant threat to the forest industry. Wood waste can no longer be disposed of to landfill either, as this results in unstable landfilling conditions and the necessity for bigger sites. Non compliance in this regard will result in severe fines.
According to the new legislation, wood waste must either be reused or recycled, and CCE Energy Solutions (Pty) Ltd welcomes any amount and type of wood waste. Contracts will be entered into according to the nature and size of each wood waste generator.
Carbon and Environmental Options (C&EO) would like to express our gratitude to all those who participated, in particular to Mr Morton Hubbe and Eden District Municipality for hosting the event, as well as Mr Eddie Hanekom of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and Mr Patrick van Coller from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry for their presentations and input.
We at C&EO would also like to extend our apologies for not attending the workshop; the uncharacteristically snowy-weather in Johannesburg the night before resulted in flights being delayed and out-right cancellations – yet another indication of how our climate is changing.
For more information on such partnerships, contact Olivia Tuchten or Margot Saner on 011 475 3161.
Electrifying: Wood-Waste-To-Energy project in Southern Cape
The Carbon and Environmental Options (Pty) Ltd Wood-Waste-to-Energy workshop held in George on 30 January 2007 was
received by the local authorities with much appreciation and enthusiasm.
The workshop centered on the proposed Southern Cape Cleaner Energy Project in which the Eden District Municipality will be a major stake holder. The purpose of the project is to create ‘green energy’ by using a technology called Fluidised Bed Combustion to convert biomass – predominantly in the form of wood waste which is in abundance in the area – to electricity through a sophisticated and proven incineration process.
This practice is used world wide and is environmentally friendly because it does not need fossil fuels (such as coal or oil) to generate energy and because the process will make use of biomass waste that was either previously dumped or randomly burnt with or without other waste. Both of the former practices negatively impact on the environment due to the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when large quantities of biomass are disposed of in landfill sites, and dispersion of other dangerous pollutants into the air when biomass is burnt. The project will therefore be viable for Clean Mechanism Development status (a mechanism created under the Kyoto Protocol) which will facilitate the registration and trading of Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) on international stock markets.
The project will therefore address energy shortages in the area while taking steps against global warming – a hazard that South Africa (one of the biggest polluters on the African continent) can no longer ignore.
The way forward
A number of sites in the Southern Cape are being assessed for their suitability and an
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is currently being undertaken in order
to finalise the process.
