Work on P200-M Payatas biogas project to start

By MARIA KRISTINA C. CONTI/BUSINESSWORLD It’s all systems go for the Payatas biogas project, a five-year-old Quezon City government project designed to use the dump site’s harmful gas discharges to generate electricity. The scheduled groundbreaking of the P200-million project is on July 10, which is the seventh anniversary of the trash slide in Payatas. The Biogas Emission Reduction Project is private-public partnership clean energy project that involves the extraction, collection, processing and conversion of biogas to electricity from the 22-hectare Payatas disposal facility. Biogas is considered a greenhouse gas (GHG), and is mainly composed of methane and carbon dioxide. It is abundant in dump sites because it is produced during the fermentation of organic matter, like biodegradable wastes. The project is expected to reduce 1.2 million tons of equivalent GHG emissions in 10 years of operations. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) registered the project in the clean development mechanism (CDM) last June 18, clearing the way for developer Pangea Green Energy Philippines Inc. to begin building the first CDM-certified landfill facility in the country. As a CDM project, the "carbon credits" from the Payatas biogas project are available "for sale" to developed countries. In the carbon trading scheme, developed countries which are required to cut carbon emissions can "buy" credits by financing emissions-reducing projects in developing countries. Aware "The Quezon City government is aware of the adverse impact of biogas on the health of the people and on the environment as a whole. By effectively extracting and converting biogas emissions to energy, it helps reduce GHG emissions, thus addressing global and regional impacts of climate change," a statement quoted Environment Secretary Angelo T. Reyes as saying. Pangea is the local subsidiary of Italian renewable energy company Pangea Green Energy S.r.l. It stepped in to finance and provide technical support in 2005, on the heels of a QC local government-Philippine National Oil Company study on Payatas’ energy potential. It will fully finance the project, hoping to establish itself as a legitimate and independent power producer within ten years. Biogas can be burned directly for cooking, heating, lighting, or processed for use as vehicle fuel or for generating electricity. Seeking other projects Pangea technical manager Joy O. Gonzales said in the first phase of the project the company will install a 200- kW generator to provide the power requirements of the plant. In the next phase, after two years, Pangea will replace it with a higher-capacity generator, depending on the actual flow of gas. "At least 700 kW, probably," said Ms. Gonzales. After the project runs its full 10 years, said Ms. Gonzales, Pangea will turn the facility over to QC government. "Pababa yung [The] amount of gas generated [is decreasing]. Normally, [these projects] magpe-peak for four to five years, then bababa [gas generation declines]. Also, the QC government has plans to close the dump site," she said. The Payatas community is looking forward to benefiting from the project, said Payatas barangay secretary Rosita Q. Estrella. Initially, it will provide discounted electricity to those within the vicinity of the facility, like Lupang Pangako, Group 3, and Group 4-7. But Ms. Estrella said the barangay expects the project to be able to provide electricity to the entire Payatas community. QC Payatas Operations Group planning officer Luis S. Sabater said Pangea is allowed to sell the electricity to other areas as well. "As the developer, they are allowed this; but, of course, the city — even if we had no cash out — is the owner of the landfill, so we have a share in profits too." The city’s share in revenues, which would be worked out after Pangea recovers investments, will be determined based on negotiations over the carbon credits. But Mr. Sabater said as the profits increase, so will the city’s proportionate allocation. "Whatever proceeds the city will get will go back to Payatas — for its school buildings, roads," said Mr. Sabater. Pangea, meanwhile, is scouting for other projects to finance. Ms. Gonzales said, "We’re into animal manure-to-energy projects [also]. Maraming tinitingnan, ine-evaluate pa lang ang viability. Kung saan may dump site, andun kami: Cebu Davao, Iloilo, Antipolo, Batangas. [We’re looking at many sites, we’re evaluating their viability. Where there’s a dump site, we are also there.]"