[USCC] Landfill

Wed Dec 31 11:44:12 CST 2008

Kelly and all, here are some thoughts on this discussion thread. It
is not just the shortage of wood and other bulking carbon sources
that may be impacting your industry. There are extant sewer plant
processes that convert solids to fuel and thus as this catches on,
there also may be less sewage sludge going to composting. 

The sewer plant that serves St Paul did a fairly
sophisticated economic analysis on the comparative cost of land
spreading of sewage sludge vs using sludge as a fuel at the plant (it's
been a while since I looked at that plant and discussed its economic analysis with their engineering staff
and thus I'm not clear as to whether they also included the costs and
benefits of composting). Their analysis, however, lead them to install three
very expensive Von Roll fluid beds and drop land application. The
savings, as shown by that economic analysis, were impressive---part
of the analysis also considered the legal risks associated with the
land application of sewage sludge which this change allowed the
district to avoid. These legal risks associated with the land
application of sewage sludge were one of the critical factors in
their overall analysis.

Of the other reasons that may see
the shift to using sludge as a fuel, beside the carbon credits, are the allowed reconfiguration of
sewer plants and impacts on the reduction of emerging contaminants of concern
(ECCs) that now are released by sewer plants via sewage sludge or
effluent. If the solids are removed and converted to fuel before the sludge hits the
digesters, the plant size can be drastically reduced and with it also
the  accompanying energy and other costs associated with current plant operation. This
up-front solids removal has several advantages. First, since
bacterial action within the digesters converts solids into solutions,
many of these solid materials, which are now converted into solution and thus can
not be controlled by the plant, go out with the discharged
effluent. If, however, the solids do not go to the digesters but
become converted to fuel, this problem, in large part, is obviated.
The effluent leaving the plant is also much cleaner and the Clean
Water Act (CWA) likes that. There is now going to be a much increased
review of the CWA and the impact of ECCs on the nation's water
resources.  

With the up-front removal of solids,
this then includes the contained ECCs, pathogens and other detractors
(which are not not being controlled by current sewer plant designs),
there is thus little need for digesters, their ordor problems and the
large equipment and energy needed to move fluids, control solids, and
other processes found at most sewer plants. Thus the overall
footprint of the plant and hence its staff can be cut by as much as
80%. This is critical for the expansion of many once rurally located sewer plants now
that now find themselves tightly surrounded by expensive real estate. 

The area of Montecito in California is one such example. Its plant is
hemmed in by some very expensive real estate and has no place to
grow as a conventional plant, yet the number of hook-ups continues. Storing and moving sludge
thus becomes an increasing liability, especially as fuel and energy
costs continue to increase. Consequently, municipal governments and
sewer districts are rethinking how sewer plants operate and the
ultimate impact on the bottom line. That will have a direct impact on
the compost industry's source of raw stock. The solution to their problem will be to convert to these newer plant designs and thus continue to serve their rate-payers, but with reduced overall costs.

Dr Edo McGowan

> From: kholcomb at anra.org
> To: compost at mailman.cloudnet.com
> Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:26:29 -0600
> Subject: Re: [USCC] Landfill
> 
> Here in Texas, statutes still allow wood waste to be 
> disposed of in landfills. In some larger municipalities, the 
> have ordinances that require recycling of the woodwaste, 
> effectively blocking landfilling of that material. We have a 
> biosolid compost facility and are always searching for 
> woodwaste feedstocks. It is common practice for that 
> material to be diverted as boiler fuel. 
> 
> Recently, there have been two electric generation facilities 
> permitted and are currently under construction. These 
> facilities have biomass fired boilers. Based on their 
> consumption data, we estimate that they will consuming about 
> 60 to 70 percent of the available woodwaste supply within a 
> 100 mile radius. Our compost facility is located 62 miles 
> from one and 57 miles from the other.
> 
> Our only salvation is that the boiler fuel industry requires 
> a significantly higher quality material than a typical 
> compost facility. We are working diligently with our 
> participants via Interlocal Agreements for their material 
> generated through their curbside recycling programs. The 
> only problem is the amount of trash contained in that 
> material. They have been unwilling to take measures to clean 
> up the material because of cost. Running out of woodwaste 
> may be the catalyst for change in their collective thinking.
> 
> Kelley Holcomb
> _______________________________________
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