A new pilot project in Cheongsong, South Korea, will demonstrate a waste-to-energy technology, featuring the technology of Burnaby-based Ballard Power Systems (TSX:BLD, NASDAQ:BLDP).
Ballard is partnering with GS Platech, one of South Korea’s largest petroleum refiners, to demonstrate the waste-to-energy process. The project will use Ballard’s fuel-cell generator to convert high-purity hydrogen – produced by GS Platech’s plant, through the treatment of organic solid waste by plasma gasification technology – into power.
“Plasma gasification is a proven technology; hydrogen fuel cells are a proven technology,” said Guy McAree, Ballard director of corporate communications. “As far as we know, this is the first time they’ve been put together to create a complete system.”
McAree noted that Ballard uses the same technology for backup power systems for telecommunications companies.
But this take on the technology, he said, creates large potential for both Ballard and GS Platech.
“The potential is large because there’s increasing interest in finding clean solutions for dealing with waste at the municipal level and that’s where GS Platech thinks they’ve got a real market opportunity,” he said.
“From our point of view, any opportunity where there’s clean byproduct hydrogen available today is a natural play for our fuel cells, because they require hydrogen to run.”
Both Ballard and GS Platech stress that the technologies are “clean.” McAree said that the fuel cells have only two byproducts – low-level heat and water.
“While conventional waste combustion – such as garbage incineration – can lead to the discharge of carcinogenic pollutants, our technology drastically reduces emissions,” said Young Suk Kim, GS Platech vice-president. “This could certainly open another very promising application for hydrogen fuel cell technology.”
The project is financially supported by the Government of Canada under the framework of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.