WASTECON 2009 got off to a rollicking start with the Presidential Keynote address by T. Boone Pickens, the 81-year-old, Oklahoma-born Texas oilman and author of the Pickens Plan, bounding around the stage with the energy and enthusiasm of the Music Man, pointing out that we have trouble right here in the US spawned by our dependence on foreign oil. Instead of a marching band, Pickens is intent on recruiting an army of supporters pledged to fight to build a program that will:
• create millions of new jobs by building out the capacity to generate up to 22% of our electricity from wind, adding to that with additional solar generation capacity;
• build a 21st century backbone electrical transmission grid;
• provide incentives for homeowners and the owners of commercial buildings to upgrade their insulation and other energy saving options; and
• use America’s natural gas to replace imported oil as a transportation fuel in addition to its other uses in power generation, chemicals, etc.
While I for one find his vision compelling, I wish he had anchored his talk on the contribution that energy-from-waste could make to achieving the goal….something I had witnessed first hand at Prometheus Energy’s LNG-from-LFG plant at Orange County CA’s Bowerman Landfill that serves up 3,500 gpd of the refrigerated vetch to the Orange County Transit District for its bus fleet.
Meanwhile, out on the exhibition floor, the notion of weaning waste collection and transfer vehicles from their traditional diesel diets over to natural gas was receiving more than casual attention from a variety of exhibitors representing several components involved in such a transition. Spearheaded by greenhouse gas and sustainability concerns, the transition to natural-gas-powered vehicles may find more traction than it has in the past. What are your thoughts on the matter?