Critics question whether Plasco plant will ever meet expectations

Months of delays in getting a new waste-to-energy plant in Ottawa fully operational have left critics questioning whether the technology will ever work as promised despite millions in government support.

Plasco Energy Group most recently estimated its demonstration plant at Ottawa's Trail Road landfill would be generating electricity from trash 24 hours a day, seven days a week, starting this past February.

'If we are eight months late delivering an answer to that 50-year-old problem, I'm not that embarrassed by that.' — Plasco CEO Rod Bryden

Plasco CEO Rod Bryden admits that hasn't happened, blaming mechanical problems and problems with the melting system that are both unrelated to the plasma gasification technology on which the plant is based.

Bryden added that the problems have now been sorted out and he expects that the facility will be fully operational as soon as next month.

Plasma gasification involves heating shredded garbage to very high temperatures in the absence of oxygen. Without oxygen, the waste does not burn. Instead, it decomposes mainly into a glass-like solid and a combustible gas mixture called syngas. The syngas is then separated and burned to generate power, while other leftover materials such as sulphur, chlorine and heavy metals will be separated for disposal.

According to data in monthly reports by an engineering company that is overseeing the project, the plant only processed an average of four tonnes of garbage a day between the end of January, when it first successfully processed waste, and the end of August. Its goal is 75 tonnes a day.

That is because it had to be shut down for days at a time for upgrades to deal with its problems, such as the repeated jamming of the system that feeds in the garbage. More recently, it had to shut down after exceeding its allowable sulphur emissions.

Stephen Hazell, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, said he doesn't think the plant will ever be fully operational.

"The technology doesn't work," he said. "Here in Ottawa, we have been sold a bill of goods."

The City of Ottawa donated the land for the project, the federal government provided $9.5 million, the province lent Plasco $4 million and private investors pumped in additional funding.

But Coun. Clive Doucet said he never thought there was a sure return on that investment.

"To me, it was always like buying a lottery ticket," he said.

Doucet said he thinks Plasco was worth taking a chance on, but he's decided the technology is more fantasy than reality.

"Frankly, it's kind of spooky, isn't it? That you could take stuff and just evaporate it without any consequences. It's always sounded to me a bit like something out of the Sorcerer's Ring."

Bryden said he understands some skepticism.

"We don't criticize anyone for saying, 'We will believe it when we see it and you're eight months late'," he said.

But he added that the world has been waiting for a better waste disposal solution for half a century.

"If we are eight months late delivering an answer to that 50-year-old problem, I'm not that embarrassed by that."