11 <p><img height="183" alt="" width="499" src="/uploads/11/Image/EFW_process2.JPG" /></p> <p>Energy-from-Waste (EfW) or waste-to-energy (WTE) is a process that takes municipal solid waste &ndash;including plain old household trash -- and transfers it into combustion chambers where it is reduced to 10% of its original volume in the process. The heat generated from the combustion chambers heats up water in steel tubes that form the walls of the combustion chambers.&nbsp; The water is turned to steam and sent through a turbine that continuously generates electricity.</p> <p>Over the past 25 years, the EfW industry has developed state-of-the-art technology that makes EfW one of the cleanest forms of energy generation. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, Department of Energy and 25 states have classified EfW as a renewable technology, and the Department of Energy states that turning garbage into energy makes &ldquo;important contributions to the overall effort to achieve increased renewable energy use and the many associated positive environmental benefits.&rdquo; The advanced technology in combusting waste is the air quality (emission) control system. Energy-from-waste facilities meet or exceed the strictest federal standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and employ a multi-step process to achieve superior environmental performance.</p> <h2>Why choose Energy-from-Waste?</h2> <ul> <li><span><strong>Clean power</strong>:</span> The&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="body1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"><font size="2">US EPA has stated that waste-to-energy plants are a &ldquo;clean, reliable, renewable source of energy&rdquo; that &ldquo;produces electricity with less environmental impact than almost any other source of electricity.&rdquo;</font></span></span></li> </ul> <ul> <li><span><strong>Less dependence on imported fuels:</strong></span> For every ton of waste processed in a EfW facility, we avoid the need to import 1 barrel of oil or mine one quarter ton of coal.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>Net Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction: </strong>For every ton of waste processed in a EfW facility, almost one ton of GHG is avoided.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><span><strong>A safe and effective solution for managing local trash generation:</strong> Less reliance on landfills and long distance shipping of trash across state lines preserves valuable land and resource with minimal disturbance to surrounding neighborhoods.</span></li> </ul> 743 /uploads/11/Image/header/reduce-reuse-recycle.jpg 21 efw-basics true false

2009-08-24T14:46:54-04:00