Technical workshop 3 :

_{What are the advantages and risks of energy reclamation?}

Given the increased global demand for energy and the limited fossil fuel resources, a policy for re-using waste to produce energy is urgently needed.

In your opinion, which of the existing systems should be developed and are there any new ones that should be created?
In addition to the target of reducing waste output at source, it is true that we need to look to other technical solutions such as those that have already been developed for waste storage and incineration, whether or not the waste concerned is hazardous.
Lets us examine the example presented by industrial waste: for several years, the cement production business has been taking in a wide range of industrial waste such as old tyres, animal meal etc. This waste is selected on the grounds of its calorific value because it reduces the conventional fuel consumption bill.
Furthermore, in the metallurgy industry, we already see waste usage practices that have become commonplace and where waste not only produces energy but is also recycled.

What are the advantages and risks associated with re-use to produce energy?
In the case of cement plants, we have an industry that is very energy-hungry. This type of operation is governed by a ministerial decree dated September 2002 on the co-incineration of industrial waste and enacts a Community directive in French law. In particular, this text imposes extremely stringent standards on discharges into the atmosphere. The specific nature of this industry is due to the fact that «clinker», the main raw material used in cement making, has a very high neutralising absorbent capacity. It is also due to the hazardous nature of the products and waste fed into the kiln during the production process.
This trade has been used now for some years for destroying animal meal produced by agri-food industries and for eliminating the health risk that could be created by these by-products.

Can you quote another example of waste or of by-products whose re-use is of value for producing energy?
Over the years, wood has constituted a fuel whose use has varied depending on the cost of competing fuels such as oil products, gas etc. and on day-to-day habits