RP’s first landfill gas-to-energy plant on

President Arroyo inaugurated yesterday the country’s first landfill gas-to-energy project in Rodriguez (formerly Montalban), Rizal.

The President led the ceremonial switch-on of the generator of the power plant in the Rodriguez sanitary landfill.

The $33-million build-operate-own project is being undertaken by the Montalban Methane Power Corp. (MMPC) using the technology of a British company.

The MMPC is a 60-percent Filipino-owned company led by Salvador Zamora II, while the rest of the shares are owned by the Carbon Assets Funds, managed by fund manager and carbon trader Carbon Capital Markets.

The power plant is expected to produce a total of 15 megawatts during its 10-year lifespan.

The power generated by the plant would be sold to the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) as the distribution utility in Rizal.

For hosting the plant, Rodriguez town will receive 10 percent of the gross revenue of the project, as royalty.

The Rodriguez gas-to-energy plant is said to be the fourth largest in the world.

The Ecological Waste Coalition (EcoWaste), however, raised “serious doubts” on the environmental benefits of the Rodriguez power plant.

The group also questioned the President’s endorsement of the project as a “model solution” to climate change and a “renewable energy source.”

According to EcoWaste, since methane is an offshoot of dumping, and dumping is such a destructive way to manage waste, landfill gas-to-energy cannot be deemed as a renewable energy source.

Instead, EcoWaste said the best way to cut the release of methane into the atmosphere is to ban the disposal of biodegradable or organic matter in dumps and to enforce “zero waste” programs anchored on waste prevention, reduction, separation at source, recycling and composting.   – With Katherine Adraneda