Biomass-To-Electricity

Reducing Carbon Emissions
The Polokwane Declaration on Waste Management

As the first commercial project of this nature in South Africa, CCE Solutions (Pty) Ltd is a 8.8 MW biomass-to- electricity project located in George, in the Western Cape. Feedstock, in the form of wood waste, will be used to generate green electricity which will be sold to (and distributed by) George Local Municipality.

The power supplied by the project will enable the Municipality’s emergency services to keep running in times of black-outs, thus mitigating the risk to the local economy that such power failures represent.

For thousands of years humans have used biomass in the form of wood as an energy source in order to generate heat and light. While this simple use remains popular, woody biomass can also be utilised as a source of energy for larger-scale commercial and industrial applications.

The majority of the feedstock will be sourced from the Working for Water alien biomass programme (an initiative on behalf of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry) in the Eden district and the remainder will come from the sawmills in the area.

Currently this biomass is either burnt, landfilled or dumped (often illegally) all of which results in the degradation of the wood into green house gases that are released into the environment. CCE Solutions will utilise this waste in a clean and proven technology which will convert the gases into electricity, thereby protecting the environment and the global community.

Open burning of wood waste has been a common practice in the area but pressure from local and national government is enforcing a shift from this antiquated method of disposal in favour of more environmentally and socially sensitive approaches. Sawmills and other generators are required to either recycle or reuse the wood waste produced. Not only is open burning a major fire hazard that has the potential damage the existing plantations and local residences, it also contributes enormously to climate change as CO₂ and other harmful green house gases are release into the atmosphere.

To this effect, all municipalities in the country have been issued a mandate by government to supply 10% green energy into their local grids by 2013 with a view to increasing that percentage in the years that follow.

Disposal of wood waste to landfill is no longer a viable option either. Landfilling large quantities of wood waste contributes enormously to the generation of green house gases on such sites as the rate of decay is intensified and increased. In addition to this, George’s geological structure makes landfilling a tricky and complex affair and large quantities of biomass waste make these sites notoriously unstable, not to mention, filled to capacity.

The Polokwane Declaration aims to reduce waste generation and disposal by 50% and 25% respectively by 2012 and to develop a plan for zero recyclable waste by 2022. Legislation under the National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998) disallows storage of wood waste on industrial sites for prolonged periods (more than one month) and illegal dumping. George Local Municipality is in the process of banning the disposal of such waste into the George landfill sites – making the CCE Solutions mini power station the most viable receptor of such biomass.