Garbage-gas-fueled power project to begin producing early 2010

Antara News, Tuesday, November 24, 2009 05:33 WIB

Two workers is packaging organic fertilizer made from garbage at the Cilowong dump in Serang, Banten. (ANTARA/Asep Fathulrahman)Bekasi (ANTARA News) - A project using gas emanating from garbage to produce electricity at the Bantar Gebang waste dump in Bekasi is expected to become operational with a capacity of 500 KVA in early 2010, a local environmental official said.

"We are now only waiting for the completion of cell number four to provide waste-fueled electricity, It is estimated that in early 2010, the 500 KVA of electricity can be produced from garbage," said the head of Bekasi`s Environment Management Agency, Dudy Setiabudhi, here Monday.

The project was now already producing 120 KVA of electric power half of which was distributed to residents around the dump and the other half used by the company implementing the project, PT Gikoko Kogyo of Japan.

Dudy said, previously, the garbage at the Bantar Gebang dump was processed into compost but now it was being used to produce electricity.

Garbage at the dump produces methane gas which is one of the substances contributing to global warming because it damages the earth`s ozone layers. But the methane gas from garbage at Bantar Gebang was now being used to produce electricity.

By virtue of the electricity production project at Bantar Gebang which was helping to reduce global warming, the Bekasi municipal government would be entitled to receive carbon credit funds from the United Nations, he said.

"Gikoko Kogyo will receive 83 percent and the Bekasi municipal government 17 percent of the UN carbon credit funds but the funds will be disbursed after a verification process and fulfilment of certain administrative procedures," he said.