Event looks at WTE fundamentals in Australia

The Australian Industrial Ecology Network (AIEN)  says the Australian Waste to Energy Forum it is hosting in February 2016 will examine the critical “pillars” necessary for waste-to-energy (WTE) projects to succeed in that nation. The forum takes place Feb. 17-18 in Mercure Ballarat in the state of Victoria in Australia.

“Unfortunately, in recent years, a number of Australian waste-to-energy projects have failed or have not achieved the projected outcomes,” says AIEN in promoting its event. “On analysis, it is apparent that these failures have generally occurred because one or more of the five pillars or five stages of the project was not fully implemented or addressed in the project inception phase.”

The AIEN lists the five pillars to evaluate potential WTE projects as: 1) host, facility and site; 2) resources and feedstock; 3) technologies; 4) offtake of products and co-products; and 5) funding.

Among the presenters and topics at the forum will be:

• keynote presentations by Walter Howard, CEO of United States-based Westinghouse Plasma Corporation, and Dr. Stuart Wagland, a lecturer in Renewable Energy from Waste at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom;
• sessions on thermal and non-thermal technology solutions;
• case studies highlighting some current Australian waste-to-energy projects;
• discussions about understanding the composition and value of your waste stream as well as process off-takes and products; and
• a panel session where representatives from the finance community will speak about the requirements for project financing.

The AIEN also says there will be opportunities for networking with the conference speakers and other delegates at a welcome function and a group dinner

Information about registering for the event can be found at http://aien.com.au/wteforum/registration/registration/.