PRELIMINARY ENERGY SECTOR ASSESSMENTS OF JAMAICA, V. 3, RENEWABLE ENERGY : ENERGY CONSERVATION FROM WASTE

Technological studies were published in three volumes (with volume three being in four parts, for a total of six volumes), to which two introductory volumes were added, providing, respectively, an executive summary of the entire assessment and an economic assessment of the individual areas. This study, the fourth part of the first technical volume, considers the feasibility of energy conversion from wastes. Specifically, the study analyzes the potential for energy recovery from urban wastes in Jamaica, with the Kingston area serving as a case study, and assesses the feasibility of building a prototype demonstration unit for energy recovery from solid wastes at the University of the West Indies (UWI)-Mona Campus. Steam-generating waterwall combustion, refuse-derived fuel systems, pyrolysis, anaerobic biological conversion (biogas), and gas recovery from landfills are discussed as alternative systems for energy recovery from urban wastes. It is concluded that the only practical alternative for use in Kingston is waterwall combustion. This program could be cost-effective, but cannot currently be applied because of inefficient and unreliable refuse collection. It is therefore recommended that a detailed study be made of the physical, management, and sociological aspects of the refuse collection problem. With respect to a demonstration program at UWI-Mona Campus, it is concluded that biogas generation would be the only suitable process given the size of the program"s waste treatment plant. However, because of the heterogeneous nature of urban wastes and the low efficiency of the recovery process, this method will probably not have widespread urban usage. It is therefore recommended that UWI"s Mona Campus not proceed with a field-scale biogas generation demonstration unit, but rather that it be financially assisted in developing a laboratory to study various energy alternatives. Appendices include a 9-item bibliography (1968-79) and a summary of a splinter group discussion.