Bekasi waste plant up and running

Tifa Asrianti , The Jakarta Post , Bekasi | Wed, 07/02/2008 10:52 AM | City

Greater Jakarta's first installation to process methane gas from solid waste was opened in Bekasi on Tuesday.

The installation is expected to generate revenue from the sale of carbon dioxide to the value of up to 85,000 euros (Rp 1.2 billion) per year.

The installation, jointly operated with PT Gikoko Kogyo Indonesia, is located at Sumur Batu dump and has been praised for being in compliance with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The gas processing plant uses landfill gas flaring technology, which collects methane gas generated during the decomposition process. The methane produced will partially be used to generate electricity and be burned into carbon dioxide.

Bekasi Mayor Mochtar Muhammad said PT Gikoko covered the costs of constructing the installation. The cooperation with PT Gikoko is planned to continue for 15 years.

"The administration and community living near Sumur Batu dump will receive compensation amounting to 17 percent of the proceeds of the carbon sale," Mochtar said.

Under the agreement negotiated for Bekasi, the World Bank, as trustee for the Netherlands Clean Development Mechanism Facility, will purchase every ton of carbon dioxide until the end of 2012.

"We'll purchase every ton for 10 euros," Josef Leitman, environment coordinator at the World Bank, said.

An initial feasibility study by the World Bank suggests that Sumur Batu's production of methane gas can reach around 600,000 tons of carbon dioxide in 10 years, with a 5 percent increase in garbage each year.

Mochtar said the two million Bekasi residents produced about 6,000 cubic meters of garbage per day, although the administration could only transport around 2,500 cubic meters to the Sumur Batu dump.

To ensure the dump meets its quota for methane production, Mochtar said his administration would conduct continuous landfill control management to ensure garbage reaches the required amount.

The Bekasi project could pave the way for similar operations in other waste dumps in the Greater Jakarta area.

Leitman expressed hope the Jakarta Administration would seek a similar arrangement for the adjacent Bantar Gebang dump, which is 10 times the size of Sumur Batu.

The World Bank, according to Leitman, has allocated US$2 billion for CDM projects globally until 2012. He said he hoped Indonesia could maximize its CDM scheme as other countries such as China, India and Brazil had done.

The Bekasi landfill gas flaring project is the third of its kind in Indonesia.

Last year, the World Bank facilitated a similar agreement in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, also in cooperation with PT Gikoko.

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |