A Hamilton Township man is so sure of the benefits of a new waste-to-energy process that will be showcased this spring in Eastern Canada that he is promoting it to local municipalities and Northumberland County as an alternative to the area’s dwindling landfill capacity.

Don Alland, who moved to Theatre Road last June, was asked by his former Scarborough neighbour, James Milroy, to join Global Consulting as vice president. They have made successful pitches in Asia and the Philippines. And they made an informational presentation to Hamilton Township on Jan. 21.

Unlike two other area waste-to-energy promoters, Global Consulting is encouraging municipalities to enter into partnerships to buy and operate the special system and equipment themselves. In this way, they control everything, plus benefit from the revenues to be derived from tipping fees and the energy generated Alland and Milroy stressed.

“It’s more profitable (this way),” said Milroy, adding that “attractive financing” is also available. The component systems range is price from $8-million to $165 million depending upon size, and this is without the cost of a turbine or the revenue from energy production.

John Kearns is the inventor of this “thermal disintegration” system that handles every type of waste except radioactive. This includes agricultural, tires, toxic and hazardous, as well as municipal, medical and industrial, plus sewage, township councillors were told. The message was reiterated in literature left for them to read.

The innovative technology was created in 1983 when Kearns was asked by a county warden where he lived in Nova Scotia to come up with some way to get rid of waste. Kearns proving on his system and has a plant running in Halifax which Global Consulting’s principals say does not adversely affect the environment in any way.

“The equipment is 30 feet below grade,” taking advantage of gravity and producing no real noise, Milroy said.

This spring a manufacturing facility making Kearns specialized equipment is set to open in Sydney, Nova Scotia in order to open to fill $1.5 billion of conditional orders, Lino Hilario, chief operating office of Quantum Solutions toldNorthumberland Today during the group interview on Wednesday. Quantum is the partnerships marketing arm. Deposits are being held in escrow to hold manufacturing orders in position, Hilario said.

The factory to build the Kearns equipment is 127,000 square feet in size and will employ 75 to 100 people. The next step is to set up manufacturing in Ontario and to that end Hilario says he has met with three Ontario cabinet ministers.

In the meantime, however, the push is on to explain the advantages of setting up Kearns waste-to-energy locations that handle the problem of ever-increasing waste, yet keep safe “land, earth and water,” Hilario said.

The technology must meet the Ministry of the Environment screening process and for larger plants, accreditation, Milroy said.

The Kearns process is built on four natural processes and the advantages and results are self-evident, Hilario explained:

* once the new plant is started with 200 litres of fuel, such as used diesel, there is no need to add fuel to keep the process going. This is an “auto-thermic” patented process. As a result, all of the energy created goes into the grid, and to the electrical needs of the plant;

* there is no release of hydrocarbons because of the balance “hot” burn of 2200 degrees F;

* the volume of waste is reduced by 84% with only inert rocky ash left over (uses include road construction material and in weirs protecting the barrier reef near the Philippines);

* the equipment takes a balance of all solid and liquid wastes without presorting and accomplishes 100% combustion; and

* no water is needed or waste water created in the process that ultimately turns steam into energy.