The ASIA Miner - Reporting Important Issues to Mining Companies in the Asia Pacific Region
Issue link: https://asiaminer.epubxp.com/i/830355
24 | ASIA Miner | Volume 14 • Issue 2 | 2017 recovered materials are not precluded by having to supply an over- capacity of energy generating infrastructure, which would seriously conflict with higher-value waste reduction and recycling measures. One of the conference highlights was a 90-minute session during which a panel of senior representatives from five state governments and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation discussed issues raised by members of the audience. The aim of the session was to try and gain an understanding of where there was common ground across state borders in relation to developing a coherent set of state guide lines for industry on energy from waste policy. It became clear that some states are, in fact, collaborating to a limited extent on these issues but so far only informally between individuals rather than on a formal level between departments. As for identifying common ground, not much was revealed, however, it was generally agreed that waste to energy should be regarded as just one component of a fully developed, sustainable policy for The forum attracted more than 160 delegates who heard interesting and information presentations from a variety of speakers. A welcome function prior to the forum was hosted by STEINERT Australia. recovering resources. Waste to energy should never be regarded as a stand-alone means to an end, in its own right. The corollary to this policy position, which was also accepted by members of the panel and generally by the audience, is that materials should be recovered for the use that represents the highest possible value feasible at the time of recovery. The only waste that should be considered as feedstock for energy conversion is the residual material from waste sorting and resource recovery processes. A somewhat surprising revelation during discussion was that the government representatives are agnostic about the selection of technologies for a particular purpose. Whatever technology 'does the job' seems to be acceptable provided, of course, that it complies with relevant government regulations. However, there did seem to be a consensus that whatever technology is selected must be supported by operational data spanning at least five years and of course be commercially viable. A core question raised by the keynote speaker, which reverber- ated throughout the forum, was what are the key drivers for con- sidering waste to energy? Given the potential for solar, wind and tidal sources of energy, not to mention remaining fossil sources, does Australia actually need to extract energy from waste? Or is the development of related infrastructure nothing more than a waste disposal strategy? Interestingly, when the issue was debated during the panel ses- sion, for example, no clear position emerged from the panellists or indeed, from delegates. It may be that, at this stage in the national debate, the issue turns on ideological considerations as much as any others. Be that as it may, in closing the conference AIEN chairman Garbis Simonian made his views from an entrepreneurial perspective very clear, saying "Australians are seriously looking at utilising energy from waste that goes into the 'big hole' landfill. There's an energy crisis right now." He went on to say, "We're short of gas, electricity – so this is very relevant now. We've got to look at all areas to see where we can recover energy." There can be no doubting the prac- tical wisdom of that approach.