News

Oslo has a big problem and PH should consider helping

Ronnie Bulaong June 21, 2013 · 3 min read

Listen to article

CICC confirms GoreBox blocked on Google Play and Steam in PH See more, do more with the BenQ’s new monitors Qualcomm announces dates for Snapdragon Summit 2026 HONOR X7e now available in the Philippines PalawanPay Visa Card now works with Google Wallet

Karon nasayud ko nga basin naglibog mo ngano nga ang atong nasud, nga nag-atubang na og daghang mga isyu sa tanang daplin, angay motabang sa kapital nga siyudad sa Norway sa ilang talagsaong kabalaka. Tuohi o dili, mga higala, kini usa ka win‑win nga solusyon para sa duha ka nasud ug usa nga makapahimo sa pag‑solbad sa atong mga problema sa pagbaha dinhi sa metro.

Problema sa Oslo: ang siyudad nagkakulang na og basura. Sakto na, ang siyudad nga adunay 1.4 milyones nga tawo nag-atubang og kakulang sa basura. Sa tinuod, nasinati na nila kini nga isyu kaniadto ug nag-import pa gani og basura gikan sa mga kasikbit nga siyudad ug nasud. Apan dili gihapon igo ug adunay mga hisgutanan nga magdala og basura gikan sa US.

oslo waste incinerator

So why is the city running out of trash? Besides the fact that they implement a highly-efficient garbage collection system, the city also owns a trash incinerator that turns crap to usable energy. Since its conception, the facility has been one of the sources of electricity in the city and it helped in minimizing wastes that is being put to landfills.

Apan ang problema dinhi kay ang siyudad dili makaproduce og igo nga basura (unsaon man ni ‘eh?) aron masuportahan ang pasilidad, maong kinahanglang mag-import ang siyudad og basura gikan sa ubang siyudad ug nasud. Sa laing bahin, daghan kaayo ta og basura nga wala na kami kabalo asa ibutang. Bisan pa ang among mga suba napuno na og basura, mao kana kadaghanon sa basura nga naglibot-libot.

payatas dump site

Maong nagdala kini kanako sa akong sugyot; ngano man dili nato ihatag ang atong basura sa Oslo? O mas maayo pa, ngano man dili nato tukuron ang atong kaugalingong pasilidad aron dili na nato kinahanglang i-export ang atong basura sa tunga‑tunga sa kalibutan aron mawala kini ug mahimong usa ka mapuslanon nga butang.

Murag maayong plano, diba? Apan, ang Sekretaryo sa DENR, si Mr. Ramon Jesus Paje, adunay lahi nga panan-aw niini nga iyang gihisgutan sa usa ka interbyu sa ANC pipila ka tuig na ang milabay:

"Kung tugotan nato ang pag-incinerate sa atong basura, kinahanglan gamiton nato ang pinaka‑modernong teknolohiya, halos zero emission. Ang nag‑una nga problema kay ang Pilipinas usa sa pinakataas sa gasto sa kuryente ug ang incineration kay essentially kuryente. Kung ang presyo sa kuryente taas kaayo, mahimong dili na kini makatarunganon."

Aw, balik na sa drawing board.

{tinubdan} {pinaagi} {Kredito sa Imahe}

What is Oslo's unusual problem?

Oslo is running out of garbage and faces a shortage of waste to fuel its trash incinerator.

How does Oslo's trash incinerator help the city?

The incinerator turns garbage into usable energy and helps minimize waste sent to landfills.

What solution does the article suggest for the Philippines?

The article suggests the Philippines could donate its garbage to Oslo to help with flooding issues.

React to this article:

oslo garbage issue

Ronnie Bulaong

Writer

This article was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor and correspondent for YugaTech. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

1,750 Articles

View all posts by Ronnie Bulaong →

76 Comments

D · 13 years ago

We have an incinerator along coastal road unfortunately it’s now abandoned. I think it’s against the clean air act or something.
Asking help from the Norwegians is a great proposition but definitely someone will lobby against this.

redvillanueva · 13 years ago

i guess the secretary haven’t done much research about it. or?they just don’t want to do a project where they won’t profit from it…

BlueMayo · 13 years ago

incineration electricity costs ba?

Read this article: Sweden, a recycling-happy land where a quarter of a million homes are powered by the incineration of waste, is facing a unique dilemma: The nation has run out of much-needed fuel.

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/recycling/blogs/sweden-runs-out-of-garbage-forced-to-import-from-norway

mike · 13 years ago

initially it will be costly, but once we are producing that power (electricity) it will return back to the system and thereby lowering the cost.

Ryan · 13 years ago

But if what we incinerate we also convert into electricity then I am sure the expense will become lower. The power generated can be stored and used to incinerate again? I am sure we have enough trash for is to be self sufficient, Correct?

ryn · 13 years ago

I can’t believe you and most of the ones commenting. This should not be even considered! It is just another “band-aid” solution to our problems. The solution to too much garbage is not the disposal rather the generation. We should be finding ways to minimize the garbage we create.

This solution will only lead to more garbage since people will think it will be converted to energy anyway. Sooner or later, we’ll be back where we started. Either that or we’ll have consumed our resources.

Stop thinking short term with tunnel vision!

yn · 13 years ago

pagawa tayo ng incinerator sa mga norweigan, tas bayaran natin ng basura! hehehe

RN · 13 years ago

hmmmmmm mukang feasible hehehe

WEW · 13 years ago

THIS. =)))

vsa · 13 years ago

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/341741/p3-b-facility-to-turn-naga-trash-into-energy

ocommon · 13 years ago

May advance nang technology ngayon sa incineration na hindi delikado ang usok sa environment, pero hindi matuloy tuloy dahil sa mga pulitikong ayaw makipag-cooperate, kung gusto daw matuloy, dapat kikita din daw sila dyan hehe.. you know what i mean..

red · 13 years ago

Shipping of Garbage??? Common, you have no idea how COSTLY it is to charter ships! for single journey, charterer spends millions of $$$ for valuable cargo. But for Garbage? Trust me, it’s impossible. Unless, the Norwegian government shoulder all the fees! :)

susi · 13 years ago

oh only if it is as easy as transporting garbage between Sim cities. I’ve always dreamed of incinerating facilities since I was a child playing Sim City :)

Greenpisot · 13 years ago

Let’s see na lang di lang overcrowded sa basura ang Pinas overpopulated di sa polusyon.

palakol · 13 years ago

pyrolisis is a relatively new tech from japan that turns almost anything into fuel, electricity and charcoal powder. a small machine, manufactured by korea, will cost around 10 million u.s. dollars and can convert about 20 tons of garbage everyday. the only electricity needed to run it is to power it up, afterwhich it becomes self-running. it also passes all emission tests from most european countries.

remigio jr ignacio · 13 years ago

That new technology should be looked into by everyone else- if the government cant finance it then why not included it in the ppp lined up projects-

Alessandro · 13 years ago

Sa tingin ko hindi din nila tatanggapin ang basura natin. Ang basura na ginagamit nila ay naka waste segregation na. Isa pa sobra sobra ang basura natin. Ang populasyon natin sa Metro Manila pa lang ay mahigit sa 1,000% mas madami sa populasyon nila. Ang kelangan natin talaga ay disiplina ng mga nakatatanda at edukasyon sa mga nakababata para maturuan nila mga magulang nila na matitigas ang ulo.

Justin · 13 years ago

My 2 cents worth:

We cannot afford to build a similar highly-efficient garbage collection system as what Oslo has. That probably will cost billions of pesos to build, operate and maintain. Unless the cost of this technology goes down, it’s just not feasible for our country.

I get what Mr. Paje was trying to say. Yes, the facility is supposed to generate electricity, but generally, what he’s trying to say is that for every P100 cost of power the plant uses to ‘burn’ garbage, it will only generate P50 worth of power. Hence, it becomes uneconomical (note, these figures are merely examples).

So do we transport the garbage? Possible. But the distance from PH to Oslo is 9,826.73kms…. and that’s the straight line distance. I’m estimating the nautical route to be around 15,000kms via the South Atlantic. It’s going to be very costly for us to ship our trash there given these distances.

I think ultimately, the best (and easiest) solution is for Oslo to bring their ships here, we load them up with our garbage, then we pay them a fraction of their (Oslo’s) cost. After all, they’re going to be making money out of our garbage, anyway, after it’s converted to power. Also, I’m pretty sure we have government budget allocation for garbage disposal… what I’m not sure about is if the allocation still exists, or if it’s already been pocketed.

jayden · 13 years ago

Why doesn’t Mr. Paje consider the benefits instead of just the cost of building incinerators? I read in the news the other day that P1.5T is wasted over 10 years due to traffic jams. This cost involves only fuel cost and wasted manhours. If we can reduce the garbage that causes flood then maybe loss of lives and damage to properties due to floods will also be reduced. Maybe the electricity produced by these incinerator can also reduce the cost of electricity in Metro Manila, which can also attract investors.

Ironically, we cannot build incinerators in Philippines due to Republic Act 8749 or the Clean Air Act of 1999 which bans them.

vsa · 13 years ago

Naga City will soon have a facility that will turn trash into garbage. it is now under construction. Read this news from inquirer:

Although it has never been tried anywhere in the country, Naga City is optimistic that a P3-billion project on a five-hectare government property can convert garbage into electric energy while solving its waste problem.
The facility in Barangay San Isidro could generate eight megawatts of electricity from 100 tons of trash fed into it daily and collected from the city’s 27 villages, according to Oscar P. Orozco, head of the Naga City Environment and Natural Resources Office.
With Naga taking in more settlers and attracting more businesses, Orozco said the present Balatas open dump could no longer hold the volume of garbage in five years. “The 20-25 percent of trash segregated cannot reduce the pile of garbage mounting every day,” he said in a phone interview.

Joint venture
A South Korean company, CJ Global Green Energy, and a Japanese company, Hitachi Zosen, are expected to build the energy plant in two years after the ground-breaking ceremony held on Nov. 22 last year. Among those who attended the program were Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla and Environment Secretary Ramon Paje.
Mayor John Bongat said the pioneering effort could be replicated in other areas.
The city government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) signed a joint venture agreement for the project on Aug. 24, 2010. After an environmental review showed the project to be viable, the process to be used in the facility was approved the following month. On Oct. 20, 2011, the project was granted an environmental clearance certificate.
According to the DENR, the San Isidro site, which is more than 250 meters away from residential areas and other urban infrastructures, passed the international criteria set for such plants and sanitary landfill.
Orozco said the facility would use “gassification” or the process of converting solid wastes into gases without combustion. A machine pulverizes the trash and stirs in it a very hot solvent, from which steam is generated, causing a turbine to produce electricity.
When the steam condenses, the liquid is collected and diverted to the first chamber to serve as solvent for the next batches of trash in order to start another cycle.
“For every 100 tons of garbage, some eight megawatts of electricity will be produced. CJ Global is aiming to produce 20 megawatts for each cycle,” Orozco said.
He gave assurance that no fumes or residue would be produced to harm the surroundings because no chemical is used to break up complex substances and convert them into hydrogen and oxygen.
The plant will be established in accordance with Republic Act No. 9003, also known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Program, which encourages the establishment of such facilities and prohibits dumps.
Distribution to consumers
Once the facility is operational, CJ Global will offer electricity to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) or the Camarines Sur II Electric Cooperative (Casureco II) for distribution to consumers.
“If negotiations with NGCP or Casureco II fail, the city will assume the task of distributing and selling electric power to consumers,” Orozco said.
The operation of the waste-to-energy plant will also bring cash to the city government if neighboring towns would opt to dump their garbage in a complementary landfill.
“The city will encourage nearby municipalities to dump their garbage into the adjoining sanitary landfill for a tipping fee of P200 per ton, a tad cheaper than keeping a dumpsite that costs P45 million per year,” Orozco said.

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/341741/p3-b-facility-to-turn-naga-trash-into-energy#ixzz2WwlXFTFq
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

emem · 13 years ago

you only get the benefits of incinerators if they are properly designed and built and that’s what Oslo have achieve.. instead of sending the trash to Oslo why now put up the very same incinerator where that Oslo have so we at least get the same benefits. problema sa pilipino panay reklamo agad… this was proposed years ago pero ang dami na namang epal na humaharang sa proposal… God bless Philippines

jm · 13 years ago

isa sa humaharang dyan ay mga makakalikasan, and Institute of integrated electrical engineers promotes green energy, kung icoconvert ntn ang basura sa energy para naring tayung gumamit ng coal oh fuel para makagenerate ng electricity ,na makakalason sa kalikasan,, mdameng sector, ang iniisip lang nila kung anu ang pinglalaban nila, hindi yung kung anong maitutulong nito sa bansa..
^_^

loadex · 13 years ago

With Filipinos penchant of throwing things and recycling is the last thing in our mind, a system like this, no matter how expensive the machine is, will be beneficial for everybody.

No more floods, clean esteros and no more “smokey mountain” in the making.

lotie · 13 years ago

Stupid Greenpeace wouldn’t allow it. Kahit na 0% emission pa yan kokontrahin nila yan dahil papansin sila. Bawal daw kasi ang incineration sa clean air act, but that’s an old law based on old data, it needs to be ammended para makasabay sa makabagong technology.
There are a lot of waste to energy solutions, wala lang talagang initiative ang gobyerno. Pwede pa nga ibenta yang basura sa mga companies na gumagamit ng coal or fuel para sa production nila. Wala lang talagang kumikilos ng tama.

HiERARCH · 13 years ago

for now, the very good idea is to transport our garbage given that Norway must provide their sea carriers to pick-up our garbage. but I don’t think they will prioritize our country because the Philippines is too far from them. if only the nearby Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Hongkong or Malaysia had the facility and faces the same dilemma. with this technology, I see a brighter Philippines because we had lots of waste here. hope we could have this or better than this in the future.

chuva · 13 years ago

Kaya nde matutupad yan ganyang solusyon sa Pinas ay dahil sa mga Corrupt na pulitiko!

chrisP · 13 years ago

Proper waste disposal + disciplined society is the long term solution to our garbage problem. I know its easier said than to be done. I commonly see people throwing small trash like candy wrappers and upos ng yosi everywhere.

I don’t think that we should avail “state of the art” technology for that kaagad. I know our engineers and local inventors can build one. Kulang lang sa R&D budget.

Ren · 13 years ago

I think, building this needs a massive place to build it in. Plus, the fact that we still have a lot of liabilities to pay, constructing this project would be costly. But I agree, that we should transport our trash to Oslo. But first, we have to have an agreement. That if exporting trash to Norway, would be costly then, they should help us find a way to Export them to Oslo

Buster · 13 years ago

“Since its conception, the facility has been one of the sources of electricity in the city…”

“The only problem is the Philippines is one of the highest in terms of electricity cost and incineration is basically electricity. If power [cost] is so high, it becomes uneconomical”

Is Paje confused on how the facility works????

awdog · 13 years ago

this is a stupid proposition IMO. tell us the steps on how to consumate your idea then? one word: transport!

westbluef · 13 years ago

But isn’t that the point of using an incinerator, to generate electricity or does it not power itself?

Am I missing something here?

red · 13 years ago

uh oh, you’re referring to “generator”? incinerator is to incinerate, to burn or to dispose into ashes… and it consumes electricity.

westbluef · 13 years ago

“the city also owns a trash incinerator that turns crap to usable energy. ”

@red, yeah but after it incinerates the trash it turns it into electricity, so I think it should be able to sustain itself.

Honestly why can’t our government do something like this or should I go for another ‘monopoly conspiracy theory’ :)

HiERARCH · 13 years ago

@westbluef: yeah you’re right. our country had lots of potentials with its bright minded children, however many of them use their extraordinary ability to cheat people and protect their self-interest. anyway I can’t comment with what the DENR Sec had said, I have no idea how profitable the technology is.. but having that incinerator is a very good idea indeed!