UP to a quarter of Bahrain’s electricity needs could be supplied using energy from organic waste gases, according to an expert.
US-based 7th Generation Advisers president Terry Tamminen said biogas, which is produced during waste decomposition, offered a viable environmentally-friendly solution.
He was speaking to the GDN on the sidelines of a green industry conference held yesterday at The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain.
“Right now Bahrain sends about 3,000 tonnes of waste a day to the landfill – and half of that is organic, which can be converted into fertiliser or compost which will make agriculture stronger,” said Mr Tamminen.
“This also helps produce biogas, which is a renewable, cleaner source of gas that can be mixed with fossil fuels and lower the carbon footprint.
“There’s a lot that can be done here and (Bahrain could) become a model for the whole Middle East and the world.”
He said other materials dumped into the landfill could be re-purposed and exported to other countries, such as plastics, or even sent to facilities that could be set up here for recycling.
“There are other valuable materials that come out of this process and, as the world runs out of usable wood, paper and minerals, harvesting that from landfills becomes a great opportunity and is very applicable here,” he added.
“The private sector is very crucial, especially private finance, as there are plenty of project developers in energy efficiency, renewables, waste conversion and others.
“It’s the finance sector that has to catch up.
“The key thing is to educate investors and get them to the party.”
The conference, called Sustainable Investments for Agenda 2030 – Investing in Green Industry, was held under the patronage of the Supreme Council for Environment.
It took place as part of the World Entrepreneurs Investment Forum 2019, alongside the 18th Arab Annual Investors Summit in Bahrain.
“The premier objective is to create a dynamic platform where governments, the private sector and international organisations can work in synergy to come up with profitable solutions to current environmental challenges through targeted business investments,” said Supreme Council for Environment chief executive Dr Mohammed Bin Daina.
“Our work is done in partnership with UNIDO, with which we share a long history of project creation changing lives locally and globally.”
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Sustainable Development Mechanism Regulatory Development Unit team leader Dr Gajanana Hegde said it was time to place more emphasis on waste energy opportunities.
“Waste is a sector that has been neglected in most of the developing countries – and most have what are known as dump sites, but no real engineered landfills,” he said.
“If you can manage the waste collection – to processing, to final handling or disposal – it is also a source of energy.
“You can do several things with it and, in the process, avoid the emissions and also gain in terms of energy and fertiliser.
“The time available is so short. Emissions have to peak within the next three to four years and then they have to drastically go down.
“There is no leisure of having lengthy time for all this change. Things have to change very quickly and on a very big scale.”
reem@gdn.com.bh
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