Staff at the City of Ottawa are working on a fast-tracked feasibility study for an incinerator, set to return to council by mid-2025.
“No matter what, we’re going to be generating waste, and as Ottawa continues to grow we need to make sure we have a means to deal with that,” said Hoover-Bienasz.
There is also no getting around emissions, she said. Landfills create their own greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane.
Building an incinerator similar to the facility in Clarington would cost $450 to $500 million, according to the city’s estimates, with annual operating costs of an additional $25 million.
The garbage is used as fuel to produce energy, so it’s not open season for the rest of us.
Does burning trash to create thermal energy used to heat a house count?
I guess so, but I suppose the only difference is how the burned byproducts are handled.
Not just that, a home fireplace only reaches a couple hundred degrees, and doesn’t fully combust the materials, emmiting smoke and dangerous amounts of… Basically creosote.
A unit like this burns a LOT hotter, releasing less byproducts