Chomping on the facts

Stuart Fleming, CEO, Enviroserve, speaking at the Enpark event and Peter Neuschaefer, below.

RELATED ARTICLES: MMG wins American University of Beirut FM contract | Saudi FM Summit success will see bigger 2012 event | Mace Macro expands its FM offerings to India

Enpark launched the first of a series of Green Brunch Seminars for 2011 recently focusing on solid waste and recycling management.

German infrastructure consultancy, Waagner Biro Gulf, has come up with an initiative to treat solar panels which don’t work properly due to the extreme heat and dust in the UAE.

Speaking at Enpark’s Green Brunch seminar, Peter Neuschaefer, director of environment, water and energy Middle East, Waagner Biro Gulf, said it was trialing a programme to wash a number of solar panels with treated sewage water from a reed bed at a labour camp in Ras al Khor, Dubai.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

He told guests extreme heat reduces the efficiency of solar panel semi-conductors, which turns sunlight into energy, by up to two thirds and dust obstructs the sun.

The company has built a 3.5-metre-high canopy of 64 solar panels, made into a fountain with a continuous flow of treated sewage water. The waste water is cleaned via a reed bed where the bacteria in the roots of the plants feed on organic pollutants.

“This is the first time reed beds have been used in a solar-energy project. The benefits are water is reused within the system and it is cost-effective,” he said.

The sewage and waste water, which comes from the labourers who live on the site, is collected three times a day, flushed through the reeds and also used on a garden plot to irrigate a vegetable patch.

Neuschaefer said tests have shown the flow of treated water cuts temperatures on the solar panels in half, from 80°C to 40°C.

Waagner Biro Gulf is a Dubai-based contractor and facility manager of bridges, opening bridges, hydro-mechanical steel structures, waste recycling, waste water treatment plants, wetland systems and marine works.

It recently got permission to build a reed bed on land servicing 33 villas in Dubai and has created solar panels near Dubai Creek’s floating bridge to charge a boat used by maintenance engineers.

At present, a small office sits on top of the floating bridge with toilets for technicians. The sewage passes through a roof-top garden on the cabin made of reeds which turns it into water for irrigation or to wash dust off the photovoltaic panels.

In his opening address at the event, Ahmed Lootah, senior business development manager, Enpark, said the aim of the seminar was to get people to think about sustainability because it was key for businesses and households to come together to show respect for waste management.

“The best waste handling infrastructure is of little use if the general public is not educated and do not know how to handle and separate their waste,” said Lootah.

“Waste technology is growing in importance. 1,600kg is the average amount of waste produced by one person in Dubai each year and 8,000 tons of waste is produced in Dubai every day. We need to be aware of the challenges and address them.”