Technology
Unlike the conventional waste to energy plants which are mass burn or large incinerators, the conversion process is thermal chemical. It is a high heat process which burns the wastes in a n oxygen deprived chamber to produce a synthetic gas (syngas). The syngas is then converted into electricity via a turbine or generator. The syngas can also be converted into a liquid transportation fuel like ethanol or diesel, via a catalyst, i.e Fischer Trophe.
It produces far less emissions than the mass burn technology - usually about one-tenth the emissions - and are well within the limits of the US EPA and State environmental quality standards. Unlike the mass burn plants, there are no large smokestacks, 50 feet high spewing black smoke.
The conversion technology of waste gasification has been successfully proven on a commercial scale in Europe and Japan.. It is a far more efficient – as well as less polluting technology – and typically produces three times as much electricity as conventional waste-energy plants. As such it can be economically deployed in communities with small populations like Fauquier (65,000 people).
