SUSTAINABILITY

A conceptual illustration of how the waste-to-energy plant, currently
under construction in Bac Ninh Province, Viet Nam, will look once it iscompleted. The region, with a population of about 1.4 million people,
lies just east of the national capital of Hanoi, and has 16 industrial parks.

BURNINGGARBAGE,BUT REDUCING GREENHOUSE GASESJAPANVIET NAM

Waste-to-energy power generation produces clean energy from garbage. But that is not its only contribution todecarbonization. One Japanese company with the technology to change garbage into a useful resource is now helping
to drive an energy transition in Asia through its commitment and conviction.
In October 2021, Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio
spelled out Japan’s approach to comprehensively
supporting the decarbonization transition ofdeveloping countries through the “ASEAN-Japan
Climate Change Action Agenda 2.0.” The Joint
Crediting Mechanism ( JCM), established in 2013,is a mechanism for facilitating cooperation between
Japan and developing countries toward reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, in which the results ofthe reductions are assessed as contributions by boththe partner country and Japan. The JCM backs
Japanese companies in their efforts to offer advanced
decarbonizing technologies, products, systems,services, and infrastructure to those partner countries.
One example of the JCM in action is theconstruction of a new major waste-to-energy power
project in Viet Nam. Waste-to-energy involves
the burning of garbage to produce the heat to spin

power turbines; it is thus a type of biomass power
generation, and the resulting energy is classified as
renewable. Japanese companies are known as global
leaders in the field due to their technological prowess.
One of those, JFE Engineering Corporation, hasreceived financial support for JCM Model Projects
to construct a waste-to-energy power plant in theVietnamese province of Bac Ninh, working with amajor local recycling enterprise. The plant, slated
for completion in January 2024, will treat 500 tonsof general and industrial waste per day from threeof the eight districts in the province. The estimated
91,872 MWh of clean energy produced from theplant annually will be sold to a public corporation tosupply electricity.
Waste-to-energy power contributes to theenvironment in other ways as well. In many Asiancountries, much garbage—the total amount of whichis increasing rapidly due to economic development—
ends up being buried in landfills, causing suchproblems as water pollution and foul odors. Of
even greater concern is the fact that the landfills
emit methane, a greenhouse gas that is 28 times as
powerful as carbon dioxide (according to the IPCC’s
Fifth Assessment Report). Waste-to-energy power
generation enables the reduction of such methane gas
emissions by reducing the amount of garbage going
into landfills.
By generating power without the need for fossil
fuels and through other means, the Vietnamese wasteto-energy project will achieve effective reductions ingreenhouse gas emissions of around 600,000 tons
(CO2 equivalent) over a 15-year period, according
to projections. JFE Engineering will be involved inoperating the plant after its completion, helping toencourage local communities to dispose of their waste
and to recycle properly. HASEBA Hiroyuki, who
is in charge of the project at the company, explains,“Through the JCM, the governments of Japan andViet Nam have both been involved in the project,creating a stronger relationship with local businesses
and providing the impetus to really move the projectforward.”
While garbage is difficult to eliminate completely, it
can be used effectively. Furthermore, waste-to-energy
power generation is highly reliable as it is unaffectedby weather conditions, unlike solar and wind power.
It can continue incinerating waste and supplying
electricity to communities even during disasters,
and there have been cases in which waste-to-energy
plants have even served as evacuation facilities inWASTE-TO-ENERGY POWER GENERATION
Steam turbine generator

BoilerIncinerator

Platform
Waste pit

AshAshMembers of the two companies
in partnership, JFE
Engineering Corporation andThuan Thanh Environment
JSC, the Vietnamese recycling
enterprise. Fourth from left is
HASEBA Hiroyuki, directorof the Recycling Business
Promotion Division of JFE
Engineering’s Environmental
Solutions Sector.

Japan. Haseba says, “Though people have a negative
impression of garbage, once they realize that it can beconverted into electricity and benefit the Earth, theywill start to think more positively about waste and its
disposal.” The technological development of wasteto-energy power generation is still in progress. Trashcould be key to saving our planet.
UNFCCC, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

JapanDecarbonizing
technologies, etc.

PartnerCountry
JCM Projects

Used to achieve
Japan’s NDC

Viet Nam and other Asian countries have been unable to keep up with anddispose of the rapidly increasing amount of garbage that continues to bedeposited into landfills. In addition to producing foul odors and soil
contamination, landfills emit methane, causing a serious environmentalproblem. VINHDAV/ISTOCK

Flue gas

Previously, waste-to-energy power generation could only generate enough electricity foron-site consumption at incineration facilities, but technological developments such as
major improvements in power generation efficiency have made it possible for most of theelectricity generated in that way to be sold externally. JFE Engineering is working on furtherdevelopments, including methods to utilize the carbon dioxide released by incinerators.

JCM
Credits

GHG emission
reductions/removal

While contributing to global countermeasures against climate change by
spreading decarbonization technologies to developing countries, Japan is making
progress toward achieving its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) tothe reduction of greenhouse gases under the Paris Agreement. As of July 2022, 17
countries have become partners in the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).