Waste powered Christmas tree

C Fenech

Jan 2nd 2010, 13:43

@Jeremy Lanfranco

As far as I know, they cannot use Maghtab to generate electricity, because of the quality of the gas there. Maghtab landfill mainly consists of Construction waste, which does not decompose much, and therefore the quality of the gases emitted are not sufficient to warrant using them to produce electricity (unless it is for something small like the Christmas Tree).

But it would be nice if someone from Wasteserv could confirm!

joe micallef

Jan 2nd 2010, 11:26

That a very big deal they lighted a Christmas tree waw they collected a bit of gas how much it cost to pay these people and do all this gee how much power we saved we should start to import rubbish from other countries so we can light moor Christmas trees.

Steve Borg

Jan 2nd 2010, 07:49

@ M. Debono

Qabel ma titkellem, aħjar tkun taf il-fatti kif saret l-għażla tas-sit ta' Sant Antnin, f'wieħed mill-aktar każijiet tal-mistħija fejn tidħol l-atteġjament tal-MEPA. Ir-rapport tal-Awditur tal-MEPA sab li l-Gvern kien diġa ddeċieda li kollox isir hemm skont il-pjanti - mogħtija b'qisien ħżiena -qabel il-laqgħat farsa ta' konsultazzjoni. Hemm aktar minn 18 -il affidavit iddepożitati l-Qorti ta' Malta, u kawżi pendenti.

Il-każ kollu huwa kif ittieħdet id-deċiżjoni, il-qisien immanupulati mogħtija ħżiena u l-farsa ta' konsultazzjoni pubblika mingħajr ma' saru studji fuq l-effetti fuq il-ħajja tar-residenti. L-istess attitudni reġgħet saret fl-għażla tal-ħruq tal-HFO fil-power station ta' Delimara skont il-kuntratt il-ġdid.

Steve Borg


M. Debono
@ Jeremy Lanfranco

Actually, that's what the government is planning to do at Marsascala, the gases that are emiited from Sant'Antnin, instead of fouling the area, they will be collected and burnt as fuel, and if I'm not mistaken, there will be enough energy for 5,000 - 10,000 households,

BUT it was met with great opposition - as usual!

J.Camilleri

Jan 1st 2010, 14:56

Anka z-zibel iddekorat bix-xenxilli !

C Falzon

Jan 1st 2010, 09:33

The process being used here merely collects the gases that form spontaneosly at the landfill, in other words the foul smelling gas that rises from any landfill. The amount of gas generated in this way is unfortunately not quite enough to generate aa significant part of our energy needs, although of course every little bit helps. It could light more than a Christmas tree but nothing like a town or even a little village.
A more effective solution would be turning the waste into energy rather than just capturing the gases it emits naturally. One such process which seems to be gaining ground is plasma gasification. It was originally a means of waste disposal which, rather than generating electricity actually requires a huge amount of electricity to work. The process has however evolved to the extent that the gases produced by the reaction are sufficient to produce more energy than the process consumed. The result is that you get waste disposal and electricity generation, something that fits in quite well with our needs. The technology is still experimental but there are already some working pilot projects in the US. Would be interesting for Malta, although a bit risky perhaps.

R. Azzopardi

Dec 31st 2009, 18:40

Good job to all involved but this is the second or third year in a row that the christmas tree at maghtab is hitting the news. Isn't it high time that something more substantial is done with the gases?

E. Psaila

Dec 31st 2009, 16:25

I think we are the only country in the world who decorate a mountain of garbage :-)...well maybe it's because it's our landmark :-)...

Joseph Tonna

Dec 31st 2009, 15:51

Ghandna din ix-xemx kollha u dan ir-rih kollu is-sena kollha u x qedin nisfruttaw minnhom ?
Kemm qedin noholqu pollution f sena b detriment ghal sahhitna ...
Thawlu hafna sigar vera u prosit, pero ghandom bzonn l-ilma sakemm jimmaturaw.

Simon Cassar

Dec 31st 2009, 15:29

@ All

I dont want to be negative but..... What are we waiting for???!! Each year wasteserv lights up a Christmas tree and thats all?!! We always hear that from rubbish we can generate electricity for an entire village so what are we waiting for??!! We spend millions on building (or just planning!) a bridge on the breakwater, a new parliament and other non materialising, useless projects.

If electricity costs (oil price) is a priority we should not only invest but start implementing other sources of energy

LZammit

Dec 31st 2009, 14:49

I think the Christmas tree was there on Christmas Day and before!! Ehh uhud mill-Maltin kif inhuma,,,,basta kumment negattiv! Change this attitude. Happy New Year to all of you.

Daryl Curmi

Dec 31st 2009, 12:41

lol why make a christmas tree when christmas is gone now ? great idea nontheless

Jeremy Lanfranco

Dec 31st 2009, 12:38

@M Debono

Thanks for the encouraging info! I was not aware of this.

So Mghatab is sitting on an unused goldmine! What's happening to the unused gases at Mghatab?

Happy new year to all!!

Gordon Cook

Dec 31st 2009, 12:14

Very nice. Now can you do something about the horrible smell as you pass along the coast road?

Happy New Year to Everyone

M. Debono

Dec 31st 2009, 11:05

@ Jeremy Lanfranco

Actually, that's what the government is planning to do at Marsascala, the gases that are emiited from Sant'Antnin, instead of fouling the area, they will be collected and burnt as fuel, and if I'm not mistaken, there will be enough energy for 5,000 - 10,000 households,

BUT it was met with great opposition - as usual!

Jeremy Lanfranco

Dec 31st 2009, 10:52

Good to know that my garbage finally got to serve its purpose.

I have seen whole power plants driven by garbage on Discovery Channel in the USA.

Would this be a viable alternative power source which the Government could tap into? Or are we still obsessed with fossil fuel as a main power source. Its about time we do away completely with the power station.

If the millions of Euros spent for the controversial Dellimara add-on will be spent on less polluting sources of renewable energy, we will be starting from somewhere. Its obvious that the government is only looking for the cheapest forms of power sources which translate to higher pollution.

I am no engineer but common sense tells me that as time passes, so does the consumption increase. In 10 years time the pollution will still be the same as today because the consumption will increase.

We all know how well maintained our power stations are. Last year the filters were switched off for a whole 6 months due to malfunction.