A few days ago, a sparsely attended meeting in Panaji revealed something unique -- an interesting way to manage the city’s solid waste. A presentation was made by a European company, the Holland based Plastic Export Zundert. This company claimed that it can use landfill gas technology to treat not just Panaji’s but Tiswadi’s waste.
As far as solutions go, on the face of it, this seems to be a far better solution than other solutions presented in recent times. This solution will also make use of isolated locations for landfills. But the most important part, landfill gas can be turned into an essential commodity -- electrical power.
No doubt, landfill gas does also contain methane, a potent greenhouse gas, albeit in smaller percentages, anything between 40-60 percent. But this gas is extracted under controlled circumstances and is not allowed to come into contact with air. The technology too is not as labour intensive as other options and is quite cost effective. This anaerobic (without air) process is carried out in a pit and the gas extracted through tubes in an interconnected system. For the pit, the company has suggested using dead mining pits and stone quarries, which makes sense.
Interestingly, the methane which is extracted can be used to create power. The average waste collected in Panaji every day is around 70 tonnes, which makes it almost 25,000 tonnes a year. This might not generate massive megawatts of power but it might serve to supplement power requirements in the city. Since the waste generated is from the entire taluka of Tiswadi, there is potential for a decent amount of power generated from waste sites.
All this is good news. For too long now, Panaji has been tussling with the problem of dumping garbage. Now with this presentation, this issue may have turned a corner. Another positive is the fact that the recent elections threw up a more stable panel for the CCP, one that the Mayor , the panel and its backers seem to stress on. There is no doubt then that, barring the search for suitable locations, this technology might be implemented soon.
However, there is still the matter of more research needed to find out whether this technology has any downsides. Along with methane and carbon dioxide, there is the possibility of other toxic compounds like mercury that could be generated, in minute percentages. These cannot be burned or converted into power, so it remains to be seen how these gases will be extracted and dealt with in a green manner. There have been a few accidents at landfill gas sites, so safety is another concern. But proper research will show us how to prevent these disasters.
The more pressing matter at hand is finding landfill sites. Goa's land mass is limited and locating sites for land fills is a hazardous job. Nonetheless, once all the hurdles are cleared Panaji could lead the way because the rest of Goa needs solutions to waste management too.
