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POWER SOLUTIONS
ESA Energy projects are designed around
environmentally friendly technologies
utilizing clean, alternative, or renewable
energy sources.  These sources of energy
often include biomass, municipal solid
waste, landfill gas, concentrated solar
thermal, or natural gas.  ESA projects are
recognized for superior technical and
economic design and consist of advanced
equipment deployed in conjunction with
leading technology partners. 

 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE TO ENERGY
ESA Energy’s solid waste-to-energy projects produce electric power through intelligent and clean use of energy sources that are considered waste or nuisance.  A typical ESA waste-to-energy plant provides 50 to 100+ megawatts of electric power capacity from municipal solid waste that would otherwise go directly into a landfill.  Such projects may be located near the source of municipal waste or near an existing landfill to leverage on existing collection systems.

ESA waste-to-energy plants are designed to operate 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, to provide a base loaded power source.  Depending upon the design, the project may operate from municipal solid waste only, providing an effective method of disposing of the waste, or in a hybrid design utilizing municipal solid waste as the primary energy source combined with a secondary energy source.  In either case, the ESA design ensures clean power generation that supports environmental objectives. 

Highlights of ESA Energy’s municipal solid waste-to-energy design:

  1. These projects on average reduce the volume of solid waste by over 92% and thus greatly extend the life of landfills.
  2. ESA Energy’s solid waste-to-energy plants are designed to accept from 500 tons to 4000 tons per day (1,500,000+ tons per year) of specified municipal solid waste.
  3. ESA Energy projects leverage existing municipal waste handling & collection systems, and infrastructure to provide economic and environmental value to existing municipal investments.
  4. The design incorporates advanced emission systems for SOx, NOx, HCl control, and particulates.  The typical removal efficiency is 70% for both SOx and HCl. 
  5. These projects develop local expertise in both municipal solid waste handling and power generation, helping to build careers and strengthen the economies for local communities.
  6. Due to the volume and availability of solid waste and landfills, ESA standardized plant design allow regional authorities to endorse a series of waste-to-energy power plants, and to develop a larger scale solid waste strategy that address current and future environmental goals.

Environmental Benefits
Projects utilizing municipal solid waste as an energy source for electricity have an immediate benefit from the reduction in size of the solid waste itself.  The processing and handling within the plant reduces the original size of the solid waste by 92-96%.  This directly translates into an environmental benefit by significantly extending the life of local landfills and reducing the demand for new greenfield landfills.  

ESA Energy’s municipal solid waste-to-energy plant designs are integrated with advanced process technology to reduce critical emissions including SOx and HCl (the leading causes of acid rain), NOx (leading cause of smog and health hazards) and particulates.  Together, ESA projects can reduce emissions of the harmful compounds by up to 70%, well below guidelines set by the US EPA.

In addition, ESA advanced design significantly reduces emissions of Dioxins and other toxic compounds typically associated with older solid waste projects, to levels far below emission requirements.

Finally, ESA solid waste-to-energy projects may provides options to integrate with municipal recyclable materials programs, thereby increasing their overall effectiveness and positive impact on the environment.