The Department of Industrial Works (DIW) is pushing for greater development of the garbage-to-electricity business as a long-term solution to the current problem of improper garbage management and also to enhance energy security.
An official from the Department of Industrial Works collects waste water and trash from a garbage site in Samut Prakan to check for hazardous chemicals. Somchai Poomlard
Director-general Nattapon Nattasomboon said yesterday that there is no incentive at the moment for businesses to invest in converting garbage into electricity compared with other types of electricity generation such as solar power.
Selling electricity produced from garbage to electricity authorities received only 7 baht per unit for the first seven years and around 3.5 baht per unit thereafter, compared with solar that received 15 baht per unit sold, he said.
“The problem will only get worse as city areas begin to expand closer to dump sites,” said Mr Nattapon, adding that the DIW will propose the case to the caretaker government as a long-term solution to the problem.
His comments were made as the DIW, along with the industrial environment research and development centre and the Department of Special Investment (DSI), inspected the 100-rai Bangpla garbage dump in Samut Prakan after reports of fires on Sunday.
The DIW has yet to find evidence of industrial waste and has taken soil and water samples for analysis.
Anan Tangneanartchai, a custodian of the Bangpla garbage dump site, said one rai of the area was set on fire Sunday by suspected arsonists.The impact was limited because the fire was extinguished shortly after it started.
He said that the site have been abandoned for two years after its permit was revoked for illegal dumping and it has not received garbage since then.
Recently, a company named Intania Green Power rented the site to convert trash into slow-turning diesel but they are in the process of applying for a permit to proceed, he said.
Mr Anan did not elaborate on the process of converting garbage into diesel, saying that the process is likely to start in two years.
In a related development, Jinda Tachasarin, director of the Eastern Industrial Environment Research and Development Centre, said chemical oxygen demand (COD) in water that passes through trash at Praksa garbage dumping site was above industrial limits.