Waste to Energy Development – Wastefire preliminary study.
We will be expected to give a presentation as if we were a team of consultants hired to undertake this study. The main part of the assignment will be the production of a report. The report must be written as if it were going to the client (i.e. a report for Wastefire). A developer (Wastefire) has commissioned your company to undertake a preliminary study which will develop a methodology for the monetary assessment of the environmental costs and benefits associated with a waste to energy development. Wastefire would like to develop an incinerator burning municipal waste and generating electricity (see project description) near Dubai (see map). Wastefire realizes that the project will be highly controversial. In an attempt to support its planning application Wastefire requires a preliminary analysis of the economics of the plant including an estimate of the LCOE for various scenarios. It is also required to examine the environmental costs and benefits of the development. You have been asked to carry out a preliminary economic analysis based on typical costs of waste-energy plants and to develop a strategy for the assessment of the environmental costs of the development. While you have scope to develop this strategy in the way you feel appropriate it is anticipated that a Contingent Valuation (or similar technique) will be a major element of the strategy you propose. However you are free to suggest any additional work that would help inform your client. You will be given credit for advising on additional work. Your client has a good understanding of the engineering task and you are NOT advising on engineering issues. You client has little understanding of environmental or social impacts and this is why your company has been hired to provide advice. You cannot assume that your client has specialist knowledge in the field. You are to produce a report for Wastefire as a minimum this must include: i) An estimate of the cost of electricity from the plant based on typical capital and operating costs for such plant. Various scenarios (discount rate, gate fees for waste, transport costs, project lifetime etc. should be considered and a sensitivity analysis carried out. (you do not need to do a detailed design and costing but should justify all assumptions). ii) A description of the key impacts of the project explaining where the main environmental costs (and benefits) lie. This is not a full EIA merely an outline description of the impacts that are relevant in the context of this study; iii) A description of your proposed methodology for capturing environmental costs (and benefits). Explain the rationale behind the methodology, how it will be implemented and how the data would be interpreted and used by Wastefire in its proposal to the authorities. While there may be global environmental benefits the residents of the area are likely to see dis-advantages (e.g. air quality, increased traffic…) you must assess the cost to them. iv) A discussion of the limitations, advantages and disadvantages of your approach in the context of this study. v) Examples of relevant questionnaire(s) to be used in the study. vi) A Scope of Work for the firm of opinion pollsters who will be engaged to undertake the actual survey work if the project went ahead. This is effectively a list of instructions. 2) You will also be expected to give a short presentation (10-15mins) to Wastefire management to explain your strategy.