company states are “significantly below the most stringent standards in the world,” likening them to those “associated with ultra-low engine exhaust.” (Overall emissions data can be found on the Our Performance section of the company website, www.plascoenergygroup.com.) In all, the process converts 95% of MSW to clean, valuable products. Moisture from the garbage is cleaned and made available for community reuse. Solid residue from the conversion chamber goes to a high-tem-perature vessel where plasma heat stabilizes it and converts any remain-ing volatile compounds and fixed carbon into crude syngas, which is fed back into the process. Any remaining solids are then melted into a liquid slag and cooled into non-toxic pellets that produce no leachate and meet requirements for a range of applications, including construction aggre-gates and abrasives. Processing waste using Plasco’s system reduces greenhouse gas emis-sions in several ways. Sending garbage to Plasco eliminates the methane that would have been emitted through landfilling. Using the Plasco process also displaces the emissions that would have been created by power gener-ation from sources such as coal or natural gas. Lastly, the company says the slag-pellet construction aggregate is in high demand and displaces the use of virgin aggregate, which requires the burning of fossil fuels for extraction. ottAwA’s deAl Since the initial agreement in 2008, negotiations have continued between Plasco and the City of Ottawa to ensure that the facility will be built – and will operate – entirely at its own risk, notes George Young, Mayor Jim Watson’s senior communications advisor. “As a consequence, Plasco assumes all risk associated with fluctuating energy production and pric-ing, and the city will have no financial risk, contingent or otherwise,” he explains. “Overall, the City has taken a very conservative approach, ne-gotiating a reduced size of plant and providing a buffer to maintain Trail Road Landfill economic operations.” Negotiations have also resulted in the creation of a dispute resolution process, and the selection of an alter-native plant location with zoning already in place that’s compatible with the city’s Official Plan. Under a 20-year contract (with the option of four five-year exten-sions), Ottawa will annually supply 109,500 tonnes of MSW, with the right of first refusal to supply the balance of plant capacity (about 130,000 tonnes). The City will pay Plasco a tipping fee of $83.25 per tonne, esca-lating annually at the rate of increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This payment for taking feedstock – a major factor in Plasco’s business model – will provide the company with over $9 million per year. By paying Plasco $9 million a year to convert its garbage, the City of Ottawa avoids having to create another landfill site, which would cost about $250 million. This balances out over almost 28 years. But Ottawa benefits not only by avoiding filling up its landfills and by cutting green-house gas emissions; it will share revenue with Plasco as well. “The City will receive 25% of all revenues from any source after the company earns revenue which exceeds an agreed threshold,” states Bryden. Young says this bar for Plasco revenues in any one year is set at $34,100,000. “This figure is subject to adjustment post-commissioning to reflect the actual cost of construction of the facility, and annually to reflect CPI applied to operating costs included in the Revenue Baseline,” he notes. “In the event that annual revenue exceeds this adjusted Revenue Baseline, the city is to receive the first $822,500 above the baseline; Plasco KAHL Wood Pelleting Plants Quality worldwide. AMANDUS KAHL GmbH & Co. KG, SARJ Equipment Corp., Mr. Rick B. MacArthur, 29 Golfview Blvd., Bradford, Ontario L3Z 2A6 Phone: 905-778-0073, Fax: 905-778-9613, [email protected] www.akahl.de 12 Canadian BIOMASS MAY/JUNE 2013
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