Re: Hamilton must take lead on new technology

In response to Denise Neutral's letter to the editor of May 9, we suggest that Hamilton invest in a home-grown solution to waste management - namely EnQuest Power Corporation's steam reformation system. Our demonstration plant in Sault Ste. Marie has been converting the Sault's unsorted municipal solid waste (MSW) into useful energy since October 2007. In fact, we are the first company in Ontario to have processed MSW under a Certificate of Approval from the Ministry of the Environment for reducing and eliminating various waste materials using non-incineration, thermal technology.

EnQuest's steam reformation process utilizes high-temperature steam in an oxygen-free environment, so there is absolutely no burning of MSW or sewage sludge. The EnQuest system produces a natural gas-like 'syngas' that can be used to drive a gas turbine to generate electricity for the provincial or local energy grids. The system is without equal in the amount of electricity that it can generate for every tonne of material processed.

EnQuest's steam reformation system simply does not produce the dangerous chemical compounds (furans, dioxins) that are inherent in burning waste. Consequently, the system easily exceeds the toughest world-wide standards for air quality.

Importantly for our municipality, the EnQuest system can be right-sized to process our existing sewage waste, so it does not require a supply of sludge and/or garbage, trucked in from adjacent cities, to be commercially viable.

Mark Mullins

Dundas

Vice-President, EnQuest Power Corporation