Abu Dhabi:
Municipal solid waste is being converted into fuel for vehicles in the UAE, thereby considerably minimising carbon emission from fossil fuels and the negative environmental impact of waste.
A prominent waste management company in the capital has started using biofuel in six trucks and its entire fleet of 100 trucks will run on biofuel by the end of this year.
Biofuel is a natural alternative for fossil fuels and is made from waste generated by living objects. It is produced using ethanol from naturally grown plant matters thus making it an environment-friendly fuel.
“Apart from reducing pollutants like carbon dioxide, biofuel has proved to be cost-effective and will cut down cost of vehicle maintenance,” Jamal Abdullah Lootah, CEO of Imdaad, an integrated facilities management and environmental services company, told Gulf News on Thursday.
This is part of a wider Waste-to-Energy (WTE) project, the latest concept in sustainable practice to treat municipal solid waste, he said.
The UAE is one of the world’s largest per capita producers of waste. The average annual per capita household waste for Dubai and Abu Dhabi stands at 725 and 730 kilograms respectively, Lootah said.
While the construction of the world’s largest WtE plant is currently underway in Abu Dhabi at an estimated cost of Dh3 billion, Dubai is not far behind in planning a similar state-of-the-art facility to address the issue of eco-friendly waste management. Plans to construct a comparable facility near Sharjah’s main landfill have also been unveiled.
The UAE plans to produce biodiesel by processing and reusing waste cooking oil as a sustainable energy solution that can contribute to the country’s renewable energy generation targets. The production of biomethane that can fuel vehicles from greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted from landfills is also being eyed.
