Re: Request for Advise, Insight, Comment on Locating Wood Burning Power Plant in Urban Industrial Area

[Elizabeth Collaton <ecollaton@nemw.org>]

Emery:


There may be an opportunity to find a secondary market for the used
pallets.  I know that the wood used for these pallets is often very
valuable hardwood from overseas that several start-up companies have been
able to clean up and use for furniture and flooring.  Seems a shame to send
it to the furnaces if there's a better value-added use for it.  


I would agree with Paul Horn that you contact Neil Seldman at ILSR here in
DC, as they have insights on local economic development strategies for
secondary materials.  Another firm in the Bronx, named Big City Forest
(unfortunately went out of business for unrelated reasons), has a lot of
experience in the pallet recycling business.  If you're interested in going
down this lane, give me a call and I can get you additional information
from the folks who used to run it.


Best of luck,


Elizabeth Collaton

Northeast- Midwest Institute

202.544.5200


At 09:50 AM 8/12/99 -0700, you wrote:

>

>Request for Advise, Insight, Comment on Locating Wood Burning Power Plant

>in Urban Industrial Area

>

>This listserv has been very useful. I'd like to get some feedback from

>its members regarding a proposed project that meets the following

>description. This is an open question and I'd like to get as

>broadranging a set of comments as possible. I'd like to know if there is

>technology available to mitigate any environmental negatives that might

>be associated with this type of plant.

>

>The project would be located in a small river based municipality, in a

>brownfields, environmentally impacted, minority, and low/moderate income

>area. From a market perspective the location is ideal in that the local

>power company will buy the power, a compressed gas company will buy the

>carbon dioxide, a greenhouse project will use cogenerated steam. I'd

>like to know what the environmental impacts are likely to be. The

>nearest residents are within a half mile of the proposed project site.

>

>The project is a small (22 megawatt) energy and carbon dioxide plant

>that uses clean wood salvaged from construction debris, used pallets, and

>residential landscaping material as fuel. This material is currently

>being disposed of in area landfills.

>

>The project has number of advantages for the citizens of Wilmington:

>i) it creates approximately 65 jobs

>ii) it saves rapidly diminishing space in landfills through recycling

>waste wood materials, and 

>iii) emissions from this environmentally friendly project is but a fraction

>of those emitted by conventional coal or oil fired power plants.

>

>Thanks In Advance,

>Emery

>

>

>

>

<color><param>8080,0000,8080</param>Elizabeth Collaton

Senior Policy Analyst

Northeast-Midwest Institute

218 D Street, SE

Washington, DC  20003

</color>(202)544-5200

ecollaton@nemw.org

http://www.nemw.org