Garbage the answer to high Philippine energy prices?

An American company intends to use garbage to cut the high cost of electricity in the Philippines.

Quantum International Group, Inc. said it intends to invest over US$2.6 billion to build at least 10 plasma gasification plants, five of which will use garbage to generate electricity.

The other five plasma gasification plants will be capable of producing at least 13,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

Plasma technology vaporizes materials like industrial waste at temperatures ranging from 5,000 to 7,000 degrees Celsius. The resulting steam and synthetic gas is used to run turbines that produce electricity.

International president and chief executive Al Johnson claims the five plants that will convert garbage into power can cut the cost of electricity by 25% in five years.

Five more plasma gasification plants using industrial waste will be put up, and this can cut the cost of electricity by 25 percent in five years, Quantum.

Johnson said that for every metric ton of garbage, Quantum can produce from 800 kilowatts to 1 MW of electricity

Johnson said four plasma plants capable of gasifying 2,000 MT of garbage per day will be put up in Davao and Surigao del Norte in Mindanao island in southern Philippines. A plant with the capacity of gasifying 5,000 MT of garbage per day will be built in Surigao del Norte.

Given the amount of power that will be produced by the firm, Johnson said “in five years, rates in Philippines will drop 25%, then two years more, 50%.”