It is critical that UK decision-makers exploit the potential of energy-from-waste in the push to create renewable energy, US incineration giant Covanta Energy has claimed.
The American-owned company, which has UK headquarters in the West Midlands, says that the technology must be included alongside wind and solar power which are expected to take the lions share of responsibility for helping achieve government targets.
Covanta added that EfW had an advantage over wind and solar in that it is a continuous technology, which is not restricted by weather conditions.
The UK intends to produce 30% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020 and currently produces around 6.6%, according to the most recent figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
The UK requires a mix of renewable technologies to get anywhere close to our target of 30% by 2020, said Malcolm Chilton, UK managing director of Covanta. Energy-from-waste is a tried and tested solution which is widely used across the world to divert waste that cannot be sensibly recycled away from landfill and instead use it as a fuel to create renewable electricity.
Covanta currently has a handful of large-scale EfW projects at various stages of development in the UK. These include a proposed 750,000 tonne-a-year capacity plant at Brig Y Cwm in South Wales and a planned 585,000 tonne-a-year capacity plant at Rookery Pit in Bedfordshire (see letsrecycle.com story).
Pressure
Covanta said that pressure to boost renewable energy generation capacity in the UK has been added to over the last month by Switzerland and Germany pledging to focus more readily on renewable energy sources as they both move away from nuclear power.
Mr Chilton said the UK would, in the wake of these changes in Europe, need to refocus its renewable energy debate to look beyond wind and solar, which, he said, could not meet the UKs future requirements by themselves.
Furthermore, he urged the government to clarify its long-term goals on renewable energy infrastructure in order to give companies security to invest in large-scale projects in the UK.
He said: As other European countries extend their renewable programmes to move away from both nuclear and fossil fuels, its more important than ever that the UK clarifies its plans to support the development of renewable energy infrastructure. If not we could see the inward investment that we require moving elsewhere.
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