By Aldwin Fajardo
The trash you throw may soon find its way back to your home â€" but in another form. Waste treatment company adaptiveARC is proposing to build at the Buena Vista Landfill a gasification plant that will convert municipal refuse into clean burning, near zero-emission gases that can be used to generate electricity. The proposed plant will process 200 tons of municipal refuse or other biomass materials to generate an estimated 4 megawatts of electricity every day through a waste treatment technology called arc-plasma gasification.
Arc-plasma gasification uses high electrical energy and high temperature. This arc breaks down waste into elemental gas and solid waste in a device called a plasma converter. The process has been intended to be a net generator of electricity and to reduce the volumes of waste being sent to landfill sites.
Under the proposal, Carlsbad-based adaptiveARC will provide turn-key design, installation, power grid inter-connection and operations of the plant during the three-year demonstration period. After which, the company will turn over ownership of the $11.7 million facility at no cost to Santa Cruz County.
County to Take Ownership in Three Years
Besides serving as the demonstration site host and providing services such as grading and access road construction, the county is not expected to cough up even a single penny for the facility.
So, what’s in it for adaptiveARC?
The company will hold ownership and the right to sell electricity that will be generated during the three-year demonstration period. The county may also choose to outsource operation of the waste treatment plant to adaptiveARC, including the marketing of energy generated from the facility.
“We are excited about the possibilities these technologies offer and the potential to achieve a true zero waste system. Most important, this type of technology would eventually eliminate our future dependence on other out-of-county landfills,” said public works director Thomas Bolich.
In April 2007, Santa Cruz County penned a 30-year contract with Monterey County to send as much as 120,000 tons there every year. Initially, between 24,000 and 26,000 tons will go to Marina every year, extending the life of the Buena Vista landfill from 12 to 16 years.
Technology is Answer to Zero-Waste Plan
Public works officials hope to recycle at least 75 percent of the county’s 600 tons of trash everyday. Bolich said the arc-plasma gasification process would allow the county to effectively handle the remaining 25 percent waste stream residue in a revenue-generating way.
AdaptiveARC managing partner Kris Skrinak said arc-plasma gasification is an environmentally friendly process that provides waste destruction while producing energy. Skrinak said the waste treatment plant does not generate residues that require disposal. He explained that any residue will be re-circulated back through the reaction process until either a clean synthetic gas or a non-toxic ash is produced.
“The synthetic gas is used to power an electrical generator, while the ash is sold as construction aggregate,” he added.
AdaptiveARC has so far built three similar facilities â€" two for Royal Dutch Shell and one in Monterrey, Mexico.
“No one in California is doing as well as Santa Cruz when it comes to waste management. With the county, we will show the United States how to be green,” Skrinak said.
