Energy from waste

摘要

I read with interest Anthony Browne's letter in the August edition of Engineers Australia. Having identified the major impediment of the waste-to energy-plant as the collection of the waste, there are some opportunities where centralised waste collectio already exists. The sugar industry transports the crop to the central mill where the waste fibre is separated from the sugar and burnt to produce process steam and some electricity. Most sugar mills still do not have an up-to-date cogeneration plant. The expanding macadamia nut industry transports the nuts from the farms to a central factory where the hard and thick outer shells are removed from the valuable kernels. There is already at least one electricity generating plant fuelled by macadamia nut shells.