Waste-to-Energy Plants

Waste to Energy Plant in Horsholm, Denmark

When it comes to green energy and green living, thank God for non-American countries.  Seriously.  China is winning the race for solar energy, while Europe, it seems, is pulling ahead on converting waste to energy.  Check out the NY Times article here.   

I’ve always been told that burning trash is terrible for the environment and that there is no way to scrub the airborn waste that such plants create.  Every time I throw something away, I’ve thought that it could only go to one of two places–a recycling plant or a landfill.  And since landfill garbage just sits there for years and years, I assumed that eventually everything would go to a landfill.  If you’ve ever been near Fresh Kills, it really begins to stink when the wind blows the wrong way.  Pretty bleak.

But now it looks like there is a way to help both our landfill problem AND help our energy problems, and European countries are already implementing it.  America has not implemented it because of a combination of cheap landfill space, fear of undercutting recycling programs, and a “negative public perception.”  Scientifically, it looks like waste-to-energy plants are far superior to landfills:

…a 2009 study by the E.P.A. and North Carolina State University scientists came down strongly in favor of waste-to-energy plants over landfills as the most environmentally friendly destination for urban waste that cannot be recycled. Embracing the technology would not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions and local pollution, but also yield copious electricity, it said.

Check out the graphic here.

I would love to see this take off.  It would help our economy to grow with slightly less guilt, and it could also serve as yet another form of alternative energy and help us to prepare for the day when our oil supply eventually runs out.

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