Energy Generation and Carbon Emissions
Based on renewable power generation and methane emissions reduction, New Energy’s facility presents an opportunity to reduce the GHG impacts of our ever-increasing resource consumption.
Renewable Power
New Energy will produce renewable power by processing waste biomass. Any material derived from a plant or animal is biomass, and includes:
- waste wood
- natural textiles
- cellulose fibre from paper & card
- food waste
New Energy estimates that biomass from sources like these will represent up to 80% of the waste processed, which means the majority of New Energy’s power into the grid will be classified as renewable energy.
Methane Emissions Avoidance
Methane is 21 times more damaging as a greenhouse gas (GHG) than carbon dioxide. Biodegradable wastes put into a landfill will rot in the landfill and produce methane. If these wastes are instead diverted to a waste to energy facility such as New Energy’s, they will be converted to carbon dioxide, which has a much lower GHG impact. Hence diversion of organic waste which would otherwise rot in landfill can reduce the GHG impact of the waste.
Fossil Fuel Displacement
Each tonne of waste processed in a New Energy facility replaces the equivalent of approximately 0.3-0.5 tonnes of coal (depending on waste type). This means that the emissions resulting from mining/extracting the fuel, transporting it, processing it and burning it, are all avoided.
Size
The New Energy plants are available in various sizes ranging from 3.5 MW thermal to 72 MW thermal. The plants will operate at the same rate, continuously (24 hrs/day, 7 days/week), and when exporting electricity, they can produce 4,000 MWhr to 120,000 MWhr over one year. This is enough electricity to power 500 to 21,000 homes.
New Energy’s electricity will be available continuously to power homes and businesses. In a portfolio of renewable energy technologies, New Energy’s waste to energy facility can provide baseload (i.e. continuous and steady) power to support other intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind. This allows for more flexibility in the use of all renewable resources.