The circular approach to waste managment here is really compelling. Converting landfill liabilities into both energy and construction materials demonstrates how infrastructure planning can adress multiple challenges simultaneously. The fact that some regions are now facing garbage shortages shows how quickly incentive structures can shift once waste becomes a valued input rather than just disposal problem.
I live in Denver, Colorado and here there building an enormous mountain with layers of trash. It has grown very large over the years, I assume the layers have environment controls. But all the same, It's still an eyesore for a landfill.
America has no new ideas. They are stuck in an antiquated mindset built on the blood, bones of indigenous peoples and slaves and don't want to break the colonial past of theft and plunder.
In the '80's some investment here went into "trash to cash" power plants, like the plants at the front end of the current Chinese system. Some small scale plants were commissioned to burn coal + shale waste piled-up near old coal mines in Western PA. (hundreds of millions of tons). Fluidized-bed combustion was used.
US landfill operations have "capped" some dumps with clay, which is cheap and a good sealant applied with bulldozers. The methane resulting from the trash decomposition is collected with simple plumbing, and burned in diesel generators attached to the grid. None of these hacks is a panacea, and China didn't invent them. The key concept, which hasn't been implemented, is to reduce waste at every step from production to disposal
1. One would expect to find heavy metals in bottom ash also. I wonder if this is the case in the Chinese experience, as it reads, as you put it, that only the fly ash contains them. If indeed present in the said ashes and if these re used to produce building materials, what are the precautions taken to impede the leaching out of these potential contamiants? 2. WTE systems tend to be costly to operate, not less because of the needed flue cleaning procedures. In Japan I was told that the operational costs of these systems exceeds by far the value of the electricity produced. I wonder what the Chinese experience is in this respect. Perhaps you care to comment.
Hi thanks for the comment, I read a report before that the heavy metal will be buried again with safer way to do it. As for the cost, some of the plants are buying garbage to burn, I assume they make money off this already,there are many way to profit from this.
I'd like to know the cost per KWH, the cost of treating the ash and the return earned on recovered materials. The system makes sense but would never take hold here unless there is adequate profit to be made.
hmm, I don’t have the researched data in my hand, but I do heard some plants buying garbage to burn and sell the energy, I assume they make some money off it, probably some city pay them to get rid some their landfills too, and probably some subsidies from government by doing all these green thing, which local government love it. There are many way to profit off this program.
Neil, are you aware of the compromised ES&S tabulator software used in the 2024 election? How can I send you a PDF with the data and charts? Two lawsuits are underway. Scandal of the century...
Obviously combustion produces CO2. Whether one buys into the global warming panic or not, just on the basis of the precautionary principle, it would be prudent not to further add excessive amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere. I wonder how the production of CO2 over the lifetime of a power plant compares to the amount of methane that would have been produced by that burned waste were it lying in landfill till it rotted away to nothing. 🤔 How are the toxins removed from the smoke plume, I wonder? 🤔
Carbon capture process which can then put the CO2 into the ground or be utilized in manufacturing. The U.S offers tax credits for companies starting to do this. The credits currently expire in about 12 years. Anyone know if this is being practice in China for this process?
I just watched a Netflix documentary about how bad the garbage disposal situation is, hopefully North America learns how from China 🇨🇳🇨🇦🇺🇸
It is not enough to learn. Need some action 😝
The circular approach to waste managment here is really compelling. Converting landfill liabilities into both energy and construction materials demonstrates how infrastructure planning can adress multiple challenges simultaneously. The fact that some regions are now facing garbage shortages shows how quickly incentive structures can shift once waste becomes a valued input rather than just disposal problem.
I live in Denver, Colorado and here there building an enormous mountain with layers of trash. It has grown very large over the years, I assume the layers have environment controls. But all the same, It's still an eyesore for a landfill.
Could be a good idea just burn them for energy, tech like this already pretty safe.
America has no new ideas. They are stuck in an antiquated mindset built on the blood, bones of indigenous peoples and slaves and don't want to break the colonial past of theft and plunder.
Thanks, interesting to read. I will subscribe to your Substack.
谢谢您
In the '80's some investment here went into "trash to cash" power plants, like the plants at the front end of the current Chinese system. Some small scale plants were commissioned to burn coal + shale waste piled-up near old coal mines in Western PA. (hundreds of millions of tons). Fluidized-bed combustion was used.
US landfill operations have "capped" some dumps with clay, which is cheap and a good sealant applied with bulldozers. The methane resulting from the trash decomposition is collected with simple plumbing, and burned in diesel generators attached to the grid. None of these hacks is a panacea, and China didn't invent them. The key concept, which hasn't been implemented, is to reduce waste at every step from production to disposal
Kevin Walmsley did a video about all this recently and the shortage of garbage. It's a fascinating story.
I am delighted to learn this. It is an example of a living systems principle (unity = no waste) applied to social amd economic organization.
1. One would expect to find heavy metals in bottom ash also. I wonder if this is the case in the Chinese experience, as it reads, as you put it, that only the fly ash contains them. If indeed present in the said ashes and if these re used to produce building materials, what are the precautions taken to impede the leaching out of these potential contamiants? 2. WTE systems tend to be costly to operate, not less because of the needed flue cleaning procedures. In Japan I was told that the operational costs of these systems exceeds by far the value of the electricity produced. I wonder what the Chinese experience is in this respect. Perhaps you care to comment.
Hi thanks for the comment, I read a report before that the heavy metal will be buried again with safer way to do it. As for the cost, some of the plants are buying garbage to burn, I assume they make money off this already,there are many way to profit from this.
I'd like to know the cost per KWH, the cost of treating the ash and the return earned on recovered materials. The system makes sense but would never take hold here unless there is adequate profit to be made.
hmm, I don’t have the researched data in my hand, but I do heard some plants buying garbage to burn and sell the energy, I assume they make some money off it, probably some city pay them to get rid some their landfills too, and probably some subsidies from government by doing all these green thing, which local government love it. There are many way to profit off this program.
Neil, are you aware of the compromised ES&S tabulator software used in the 2024 election? How can I send you a PDF with the data and charts? Two lawsuits are underway. Scandal of the century...
Obviously combustion produces CO2. Whether one buys into the global warming panic or not, just on the basis of the precautionary principle, it would be prudent not to further add excessive amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere. I wonder how the production of CO2 over the lifetime of a power plant compares to the amount of methane that would have been produced by that burned waste were it lying in landfill till it rotted away to nothing. 🤔 How are the toxins removed from the smoke plume, I wonder? 🤔
Carbon capture process which can then put the CO2 into the ground or be utilized in manufacturing. The U.S offers tax credits for companies starting to do this. The credits currently expire in about 12 years. Anyone know if this is being practice in China for this process?
My understanding is that carbon capture is a difficult process - to say the least. If anyone could do it, my money is on the Chinese!