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Bill would turn Waste to Energy Plant green -
Spokesman-Review
The city of Spokane is attempting to get the State of Washington to change
state regulations to include Spokane's waste-to-energy facility as a source of
renewable energy.
Apparently the city of Spokane believes the path to energy independence is
through garbage. If garbage truly is a renewable energy source, then every
patriotic American should do everything in their power to produce as much
garbage as possible to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil.
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The facts behind Spokane's waste-to-energy plant (WTE) |
WTE produces 4500 pounds of carbon dioxide per Megawatt Hour (MWh),
over four times the amount allowable to be considered a green energy
source.
Nearly half of the energy produced at the WTE is derived from
petroleum products. Oil is NOT
considered a renewable resource.
WTE releases nearly as much fossil CO2
as a coal fired plant.
Without the petroleum waste, the WTE facility would have drastic
reductions in electricity production (and income), and 2500
degree fire temperatures may be unsustainable.
87% of the energy from the garbage burned at the WTE plant is NOT
captured as usable energy.
99.5% of the carbon in the WTE garbage is converted into carbon
dioxide and spewed into the atmosphere.
The WTE plant releases 550,000,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per
year.
The WTE plant burns about 40,000,000 lbs of recyclable
plastics per year. |
The city
of Spokane's blatant attempt to redefine the WTE's dirty and inefficient
electrical generation as "green" is absurd. It is just a money grab by a
cash strapped City, and a HUGE gift to Waste Management's WTE marketing
division. As always, we can count on the Regional System to promote
Waste Management's
agenda*.
*Waste Management operates and controls:
Waste to Energy Facility
(80% of County MSW)
Graham Road Landfill (99% of County non-inert CDL)
Regional Composting (100% of County clean green)
WUTC Hauling Franchise (40% of County collections)
Spokane
Regional Solid Waste System - a wholly owned subsidiary of Waste
Management?
2008 WTE
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Materials Incinerated (250,000 tons) |
% |
weight (tons) |
MWH/ton |
MWH |
MWH % |
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Petroleum-Waste* (dry) |
16% |
40,000 |
11.0 |
440,000 |
44% |
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(plastics, tires) |
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Bio-Waste (dry) |
48% |
120,000 |
4.5 |
540,000 |
56% |
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(wood products, food) |
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Non-combustible & endothermic materials |
36% |
90,000 |
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(water, metal, glass) |
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Total |
100% |
250,000 |
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980,000** |
100% |
*Spokane
recycles 2,200 tons of plastic out of their 420,000 tons waste stream.
The Regional System estimates that they only recycle 7% of recyclable
plastics, and they have no plans to increase recycling efforts.
**Heat energy produced was 980,000 MWH. Electricity energy sold was
128,131 MWH (13%)
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