Last Thursday, we celebrated the 41 years of Mauritius' Independence. Mauritius has progressed by leaps and bounds since 1968, building a model economy... often at the expense of the environment! Once again, we are being confronted with a choice...
Gamma-Covanta Incinerator Power Station
Joël de Rosnay expressing outrage at Gamma-Covanta's incinerator.
YouTube Link
In retaliation, Gamma recently issued this press communiqué: 
The haze surrounding this project raises more than eyebrows. No one knew whether they had filters until the question was raised!
That's why I'm still unconvinced by Gamma's "state-of-the-art pollution control technology".
There are certain wastes like batteries, plastics & circuit boards that contain highly toxic & cancerous compounds. Have Gamma-Covanta made provision for these? Burning them requires more than just common smoke filters...
We need filtering technology such as electrostatic precipitators which ionizes the smoke particles to accumulate into particulate matter. This fly ash needs to be further treated until it can no longer be reduced. The level of toxicity of these heavy metal compounds is almost comparable to that of radioactive wastes. Special equipment is required for the handling, transport & storage of these wastes. It must be vitrified & enclosed in concrete, to be stored underground to prevent any contamination.
Imagine the colossal harm this will cause to the environment & more importantly human health if such measures aren't taken. Filters can't be 100% effective - there will always be some amount of harmful substances that will be released in the atmosphere. Do you still think we can risk this?
Mauritius, being an island cannot have unlimited landfills, nor can all wastes be recycled. However incineration is not the solution to this problem - it will only encourage more litter to be produced.
Instead we should try to promote a zero waste policy. Plastic packaging should be banned. People should start sorting their wastes right at home (plastic/organic/metals). Electronic stuff should be processed for parts that can be recycled & the toxic elements disposed of in the proper way (& not burnt). Organic wastes (from sewage) can be used to produce methane gas.
If some of the above steps are applied, there would be no need to incinerate anything, or at the most, only a minimal amount of waste will be burnt.
In fact, forget the incinerator. ...there are thousands of retarded Mauritians who still burn their wastes/leaves, right in front their house, with the poisonous smoke being inhaled by everyone in the neighbourhood.
But why blame them when burning sugarcane fields is such a common practice...
Related stuff:
Wikipedia - Incineration - Read the arguments for & against incineration.
Wikipedia – Waste-to-Energy – Other ways of transforming waste into energy.
Recupyl - a French company specializing in recycling/disposing harmful stuff - lithium batteries, CRTs, LCDs, Asbestos. That’s exactly what we need in Mauritius.
Covanta Energy – Website
Week-End - Covanta Energy, un partenaire au passé controversé!
L'Express – Uploaded the pdfs from the archives:
- Projets de Centrale Thermique et Incinérateur - Les Mensonges des Promoteurs (part 1, part 2)
- Joël de Rosnay – L’incinérateur, un projet secret & opaque
- Président de Covanta - Notre taux d’émissions de dioxine sera proche du zéro
CT Power coal-fired power station
I'll be frank- this is a disaster in the making!!
Coal is one of the biggest pollutants on Earth, with many countries implementing laws for a coal phase-out. & guess what's happening here in Mauritius? We'll be importing more coal to burn it...
This is not clean coal technology - whereby coal is converted to synthetic gas, which is burnt & carbon dioxide captured. It's just plain old coal burning...
Coal requires the same state of the art filtering technologies which I mentioned above because it produces equally toxic by-products in addition to the soot & smog. & it produces 2 times more greenhouse gases than oil & gas!
The only argument put forward for this coal power station is economic - Mauritius's demand for electricity is rapidly increasing (with industrial projects like Tianli) & we need a quick, cheap & reliable solution. Coal is cheap & can be easily imported from nearby South Africa. What about cost of pollution, environmental degradation & human health? Wasn't there any other fossil fuel to choose apart from coal? LNG?
Related stuff:
- CEB president interview – Pas d’alternative au charbon
Note: I didn’t find any website for CT Power. That shows how popular that company is…
Given the above two projects, I still wonder what's the point of hyping Maurice, Ile Durable.
A parallel would be like telling everyone that in order to reduce the number of road accidents, we're going to implement lower speed limits. & at the same time announcing that drinking & driving is now permitted... WTF?
Alternatives
It's way too easy to rant, but how about coming up with some solutions?
The total power generated will be around 170MW, 20MW for the incinerator & 150MW for the coal-fired power plant. Here's how we can use alternative energy to generate that amount of power.
Wind Farms
According to Suzlon, their S82 low-wind turbine model produces 1.5MW of energy & their S88 model 2.1MW. A wind farm of around 30 turbines will produce 60MW. That’s great! In Mauritius, we certainly don’t lack locations where such wind farms can be installed – how about sugarcane fields?
Disadvantages:
- Cyclones? I guess a "cyclone-resistant" turbine can be made specifically for Mauritius, perhaps by using new materials - carbon fibre?
- Noise pollution (for people living nearby) & eyesore.
- High maintenance cost?
Pelamis Wave Energy Converter
I heard a few months ago that Pelamis were considering setting up experimental wave farms in Mauritius. In brief, Pelamis transforms wave motion into electrical energy via a system of hydraulics. Power generation is around 750kW per “snake.” A Pelamis farm of 4 can produce around 3MW. & as we all know, there are plenty of places around Mauritius where the sea is pretty rough – it’s a very conceivable alternative.
Disadvantages:
- Location - undersea cables are needed to hold in place Pelamis & more cables for sending the electricity to the mainland.
- Maintenance?
These 2 projects consists only half of the power required. The other half? That's where we need to tighten our belts.
Long-term projects
- Enforce laws for industries/hotels to reduce energy consumption
Recently there was a textile factory in the news that was lauded for using solar water heaters to heat their water, efficient lighting system & using naturally aspirated ventilation instead of ACs.
Should all companies apply the same policies, it would make a huge difference.
As for hotels, they should try to make themselves self-sustainable by producing their own electricity & reducing wastage.
- Trams/Trains
You know what's the main source of pollution in Mauritius? Yeah, vehicles! I'll say it bluntly - buses, car sharing & tolls won't work. Why did the British use trains to transport sugarcane? Just think for a minute if all the major towns & villages were linked by a train network & that Port Louis had overhead tramways... No more traffic jams, no more lateness, no pollution. If the government had implemented that tramway project years ago, I know our lives would have been very different.
- Electric/hybrid cars
Nissan have recently announced Mauritius is among the 7 countries where they’ll be launching their electric car lineup in 2010 (Week-End) Most electric cars so far failed because they had lengthy charging times. But not anymore. Just the other day, researchers unveiled a manufacturing "hack" that allowed fast-charging & discharging of lithium batteries. This means that electric cars will be able to replicate the acceleration of normal cars!
Electric cars have zero emission, but we need more electricity generation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because if properly diversified it will produce less emission than all the IC engines combined.
- Solar energy
I should congratulate the government for doing 2 great things - subsidizing solar water heaters & energy-efficient bulbs (ignoring the harmful UV effects). I propose this should be extended to solar power generation in the near future. Photovoltaic cells are currently not viable, but the price will inevitably fall down in a decade or so. I envision a future whereby all Mauritians will have solar cells on their houses...
- Geothermal
Mauritius being in an active volcanic region makes me believe that there may be "hotspots" in Mauritius (perhaps undersea).
For the greater good
I recently watched an Intelligence Squared debate on BBC World News on “Major reductions in carbon emissions are not worth the money."
Why should we invest in all these projects when there are people living in dire poverty & thousands of other losing their jobs due to the economic slowdown. Is it not better to devote our resources to lead a better life?But at what cost? The environment? Our flora & fauna? The health of the people & our children? Is this the legacy we'll be leaving for future generations?
A green Mauritius is much more attractive than a polluted Mauritius. There is a greater benefit in promoting Mauritius as a green tourist destination in this more environmentally-conscious world. & more importantly at the end of the day, we are the one that will be benefitting the most from it…
If we don't act now to prevent these 2 monstrosities, Maurice Ile Durable is a lost cause!
It’s great to be so optimistic. But I ask myself, does it make any difference? Someone will come along, read this, have a 5 sec epiphany, say wow & forget it after a few minutes. That's how things work in Mauritius - as long I'm satisfied, what health? Environment? That's not my problem!
The truth is... NO ONE CARES!!!
P.S. I was supposed to post this on Thursday, but had to postpone it because I was pwned by a bolt...
Completely forgot to mention this... BTW if any of you have ideas or any suggestions, please do comment!
Update:
Carbon-neutral goal for Maldives
The Maldives will become carbon-neutral within a decade by switching completely to renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, its leader has said.
Read more on BBC News.Maldives have decided to switch to renewable energy sources, despite being “a very poor undeveloped country.”
If Maldives can do it, why can't Mauritius???
Update 2:
More pdfs on Gamma-Covanta Incinerator & coal:
Le Matinal:
- Le ‘Waste to Energy’ privilégie le qualité de la vie
- Gamma Covanta defends its waste to energy project
L’Express:
- Beneath your feet you have an inexhaustible and pollution-free source of energy
- Est île durable qui veut
- Le charbon: énergie de tous les dangers
- Réflexions sur un incinérateur
- Le conseiller spécial et l’incinérateur
- Osmose no. 48
- Réflexions sur un incinérateur (II)
Mauritius Times - Waste-to-Energy Incinerator at La Chaumière
Institute for Environmental and Legal Studies - Incinérateur à La Chaumière: Licence to Burn!
From the blogs:
- Incinérateur à la Chaumière: Gamma-Covanta
- Astuces pour économiser votre consommation d’électricité
Update 3:
This post was published on maurice-ile-durable.com!!! :D
http://www.maurice-ile-durable.com/The-Way-Backward.html