Renewable Energy Technology Assessments - Kauai Island Utility ...

Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative
Renewable Energy Technology Assessments
3.0 Renewable Energy Technology
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energy via a steam turbine generator system. This is similar to coal and biomass
furnaces. Other furnaces used in mass burning applications include refractory furnaces
and rotary kiln furnaces, which use other means to transfer the heat to the steam cycle or
add a mixing process to the combustion. For smaller modular units, controlled air
furnaces, which utilize two-stage burning for more efficient combustion, can be used in
mass burning applications.
Applications
The avoided cost of disposal is a primary component in determining the economic
viability of a waste to energy facility. For this reason, areas where land costs are high
and landfills must be sited far from waste sources are the most likely locations for WTE
plants. According to the Integrated Waste Services Association, about two-thirds of
WTE plants in the US are on the East Coast. The 65 operating mass burn plants have an
annual capacity to process 22.1 million tons of waste. Large MSW facilities typically
process 500 to 3,000 tons of MSW per day (the average amount produced by 200,000 to
1,200,000 residents), although there are a number of facilities in the 200 to 500 ton per
day size range. The average design capacity of mass burn plants operating in the US is
about 1,100 tons per day of waste. 27
Resource Availability
MSW plants are high capital cost projects that require a cheap and abundant fuel
source to operate profitably. For this reason, they are typically cited near large
population centers or in areas where land is valued at a premium. The average American
generates about 4.5 pounds of garbage per day, most of which would otherwise be sent to
landfill. 28 Similar to biomass, the cost of fuel transportation is a primary factor in the
economics of an MSW plant. New plants are usually not economically viable unless a
high tipping fee can be secured.
Cost and Performance Characteristics
Table 3-12 has typical ranges of performance and cost for a facility burning 300
tons of MSW per day. The $50/ton tipping fee represents a fee that would be competitive
with current landfill disposal costs. The $90/ton fee considers the “all-in” costs of
disposal of waste on the island. The actual fee the facility would charge will likely be the
result of political negotiation between the county and KIUC.
27 Integrated Waste Services Association, “The 2004 IWSA Directory of Waste-to-Energy Plants”,
available at: http://www.wte.org/2004_Directory/IWSA_2004_Directory.html, accessed August 2004.
28 EPA, available at: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/basifact.htm, accessed August 2004.
21 March 2005 3-34 Black & Veatch