Converting Waste to Energy in the West
Ian Guss is a director of Recovered Energy Australia, a company which is proposing to build a gasification plant in Laverton North for the purpose of converting household rubbish to energy.
Melbourne’s western suburbs have long been blighted by stinking rubbish tips. However, the plan is to convert their waste to energy that would convert household waste into enough electricity to power up to 20,000 houses.
The $100 million plant would take up to 200,000 tonnes a year of residual household waste which is currently sent to landfill. This is the equivalent of household waste from three to four councils.
Using a process known as gasification the waste would be heated at a very high temperature where air is limited to ensure it doesn't burn. The waste is converted into a gas that is then used to heat water into steam and drive a turbine to produce electricity.
