Funafuti Garbage

In 2010 a new garbage department was created within the Ministry of Home Affairs and was given the name Solid Waste Agency of Tuvalu (SWAT) – here is its headquarters:

The AusAID funded waste management project in 2000, undertook a range of waste production estimates. Final estimates were 0.43 kg per person per day and consisted of over 50% biodegradables; 10% each of metals, paper, plastic and bottles; and the remainder are construction, textiles and hazardous wastes.   As far as I can see, there is little waste separation being carried out today – garbage is picked up in open trailers and driven to the garbage dump in a large borrow pit:

There are two colours of bins in common use – pink and blue.  I found a dark pink one with “Metal” written on it, and some of the blue ones have “Plastic” written on them:

There are also some old green bins around (probably from a previous Aid project).  Most of these bins are in poor repair, although there is a stash of new ones at the back of the SWAT headquarters:

Households also use empty biscuit containers, plastic bags, or sacks for storing waste when bins are full.   There is an annual collection fee of $40, which is paid by approximately 80% of households – it is not clear how the collection service distinguishes which houses have paid.

The Solid Waste Authority of Tuvalu (SWAT) also maintains large, communal waste bins at selected sites around Funafuti, along the main roads, and outside all community meeting halls for people to dispose of wastes:

Illegal dumping and burning of wastes are commonly practiced around Funafuti given the inadequacy of solid waste collection services. Wastes are disposed of in the ocean, or in “borrow pits” around the island.  There are also many rusting hulks of cars etc around the island:

Now that there is an ongoing project to fill in the borrow pits,  it is becoming urgent that something be done about recycling some of the waste, in order to minimize the amount that needs to be dumped.  Some green waste is being compacted by the SWAT team, but this does not seem to include any of the household biodegradeable waste:

The Taipei,China Technical Mission operates a centralized composting facility at its agricultural project site. A chipper 
is used to break down green waste collected by the Swat team for composting. The compost is then sold to farmers and households for fertilizer – pig manure is added to make the compost:

As part of efforts to scale up the diversion of green waste from the dumpsite, an additional two chippers were procured in 2013 with EU assistance.  The Taiwanese nursery is very impressive, and cultivates both plants and vegetables for the island:

 A small private sector business in Funafuti is involved in the recycling of scrap metals recovered from the dumpsite. The company exports containers of ferrous and nonferrous metals to Australia and New Zealand for recycling.

For a time, a nongovernment organisation (NGO) implemented an aluminium can recycling program. The NGO managed to recycle and export 50–70 tons of aluminium 
per year to New Zealand. However, operations were not financially self-sustaining; hence, recycling activities
 ceased. As part of current EU assistance package on
 waste management, efforts are being made to increase the capacity of the private sector to support recycling activities. Financing has been provided for the purchase of a baler
 to crush and bale aluminium and steel cans for processing overseas, as well as new trailers with waste cages for the collection of recyclables.

As funding has been one of the major constraints in sustaining waste management programs, the government is considering the introduction of a waste management levy (WML) on imported goods, creating a green fund.  A new airport departure tax, is also being considered to complement the WML in raising funds to help improve waste management in Tuvalu.  In the meantime a forlorn sign is encouraging some social awareness of the problem:

Outing to Mulitefala

Mulitefala is the second island off the north end (remediated rubbish tip end) of Fogafale - the first island is Amatuku, where there is a marine training school, to train the Tuvaluan lads to work at sea.  Our landlady, Lita, and husband, Pita, own half Mulitefala, and, since the other owners are never there, they have the run of the island.  Here is the team waiting for the boat:

And here we are in the boat:

And passing the island of Amatuku, with Marine Training School:

And here is Mulitefala:

With satellite dish and vegie gardens:

And pigs:

And hens:

Roger got some coconuts for us:

And we got lessons on how to peel them:

So then we all went for a snorkel here:

And saw things like this:

And this:

And then there was much discussion about what improvements could be made to Pita's solar system in the corner here:

And we admired the picture of Obama shaking hands with Pita, when he was the Ambassador to the UN:

And then we said goodbye to Mulitefala:

Borrow Pits

In October 1943 the Brits gave the Americans permission to set up a base on the Ellice islands (now Tuvalu), to combat the Japanese who had set up on the neighbouring Gilbert islands (now Kiribati).  The Americans built an airfield on Fogafale island and used corral from other parts of the island, thus establishing the Borrow Pits.  Ten pits have been identified, of varying sizes, mostly to the north of the airfield:

These pits fill up with water, partly from rain and partly from seawater seepage through the corral.  They also fill up with the effluent from pig pens established around the pits.  Most pits have houses on their edges, and some houses are built on stilts on top of the pit - the pits are actually bigger than shown in these pictures, as they have been subdivided by causeways and houses.  Without doubt, the biggest issue for these local borrow pit dwellers is land title – they can envision the possibility that the government will want to resume some of the land that they have been squatting on for the last 70 years, if the borrow pits are to be redeemed.

(As the Japanese retreated out of the Pacific, the Americans established two other airfields on the northern islands of Nanumea and Motulalo which is the largest atoll of Nukufetau - I assume there are also borrow pits there.)

It is likely that, before it was used for the runway, much of the borrow pits land was similar to some of the lush timbered areas still in pockets of the island:

Starting in 1988 the Geoscience Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community sponsored studies and pilot programs aimed at filling in the borrow pits.  Finally in July 2013 NZMFAT funded a full project design study, resulting in AU$7M being provided to do the work.  This tender was awarded to Hall Contracting, an Australian company, in December 2014, and work started in early 2015.  The aim is to fill the pits with sand, but prior to this the bottom of the pits need to be covered with carpets of membrane to stop the sand leaching back into the sea:

Most of the many studies appear to have concluded that the lagoon held sufficient quantities of sand to be mined to provide the more than 365,000m3 of sand required for the job.  But the stories coming from the workers on the job imply that there is less sand than anticipated, and corral is being crushed to provide the required sand.  The dredger is currently working 24 hours per day:

Pumping out into a large settling pond:

The current remediation site is at the very northern end of the Fogafale island – this is the largest pit and has previously been used as the island rubbish tip.  So part of the remediation work at this site has involved the compaction and burying of all the rubbish - here you can see where the rubbish is being buried under the sand:

And this is possibly ferrous material which has been sifted out and is awaiting compaction and removal from the island:

I have seen reference to some EU money being provided for some better garbage disposal/ sorting/ recycling/ removal from the island, but do not have any details as yet – maybe material for another blog.
Buts let finish on a nicer picture - this is the view near that remediation site, looking back to the port of Funafuti, on the inside of the atoll - you can see the long curvature of the island:

Renewable Energy on Tuvalu

Historically, electricity has been generated by diesel generators – the cost of generation is approx. AUD0.90 per kWh, with 0.59 being the cost of diesel.  The retail price is between AUS0.30 and AUD0.56 per kWh for domestic use, and AUD0.56 per kWh for commercial and govt use.  Until 2013 the gap was largely funded by a Japanese govt grant.  The Tuvalu Electricity Corporation (TEC) ran at a loss of AUD1.28M in 2013.

In 2008 the Government of Tuvalu approved The National Energy Policy (TNEP) which includes the target of 100 percent Renewable Energy (RE) for power generation by 2020. The Master Plan for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (MPREEE), approved in 2013, included the same commitment. I guess this all provided a good basis for the govt to go out and negotiate with the various funding bodies to fulfill this commitment.

A pilot project was commissioned in 2007, sponsored by the E8 (the energy sub-committee of the G8), and funded by Kansai and the Japanese govt. This provided 40kW of solar panel generation connected to the grid.  It is installed above the grandstand of the sportsfield:

The panels feed into inverters housed in shipping containers, with some more panels over these containers:

This system is no longer operational.  The shipping containers have not stood the test of time well, and it is easy to blame this for the failure of the system – maybe they should have been stainless steel containers:

But I suspect the irrelevance of the system, supplying about 1% of the Fogafale island requirement, is also a major factor – it was probably difficult to measure any diesel saving.  (Fogafale is the island in the Funafuti atoll, which hosts the township of Funafuti.)  But it also interesting to see that this sports field, which has rugby posts on it, does not seem to be very well used.  Even although it is right next to the airfield, the locals prefer to use the airstrip for their daily sports, and none of the forms of rugby seem to be favoured here:

Two major solar electricity generation projects are currently in the final commissioning stages on Fogafale.  One, funded by  the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (NZMFAT), is on the roof of the main government building, and provides 170kW of solar panels feeding into the grid:

Another 350kW of solar panel arrays is being funded by MASDAR, a UAE govt company – these arrays are being installed next to the diesel generator station, and on the roof of a new workshop on that site:

NZMFAT has indicated that it may also install solar panels on the hospital roof and at the wharf; the combined capacity of these two systems would be approximately 130 kW.

None of these projects include battery storeage of electricity, and so none are aimed at replacing the diesel generators – they simply feed into the grid during sunlit hours, thus reducing the load on the diesel generators during these hours.  At this stage the diesel generators are still required 24 hours per day. Indeed, it would appear that much of the solar electricity generated will not be able to be used. The UAE have conducted energy-system modeling on their project, taking into account New Zealand’s planned projects. The modeling suggests that approximately 14 percent of the energy from their array will have to be rejected on weekdays and approximately 80 percent of the energy will have to be rejected on weekends due to system constraints.  (See below for further discussion of this issue.)

The outer islands have been prioritized in the strategy toward 100 percent renewable energy for the Tuvalu MPREEE, due to the escalating costs of transporting diesel fuel to these remote locations, and the relatively low electricity demands on these islands.  Seven islands have been identified for the installation of solar panel and battery systems, aimed at providing a 24 hour service for about 90% of the time – the diesel generators will be preserved to cover the emergency backup.

The EU are funding the installations on the three southern islands, Nukulaelae, Nukufetau, and Nui, and NZMFAT are funding the installations on the four northern islands, Nanumea, Nanumaga, Niutao and Vaitupu.  The aim is to have all of these remote island installations monitored by TEC on Fogafale, in order to facilitate timely maintenance, and maximize the uptime. These installations will dramatically decrease the cost and logistics of supplying diesel to the outer islands.  In addition, by providing a 24 hour electricity service to the islands, fire risk from the use of candles can be eliminated, and fridges will not defrost overnight.

So, with the outer islands largely meeting the 100 percent renewable energy target, the focus returns to the main island of Fogafale.  Time for the sound of trumpets, and The World Bank comes to the rescue, with funds of USD9.1M and a project starting on the 1^st April 2015, and running till 31^st March 2019.  It will consist of the following components:

Component 1. Renewable Energy Investments. Estimated Cost: USD 7.4 million

The design for this component appears to have the dual targets of eliminating the wasteage of solar electricity inherent  in the current system, and achieving a 40% useage of renewable energy (far short of the 2020 100% target).  There also appears to be an aim of adding wind power to the RE mix – it includes:

    a) Solar PV (about 925 kW)

    b) Wind-power generation (about 200 kW)

    c) Batteries, sufficient for the hybrid system’s storage requirements, including the expected energy spillovers from the New Zealand (NZ) and Masdar solar PV systems that are now being built without storage (see discussion above).

    d) A satellite-based communications system on Funafuti and  (the southern) three of the seven outer islands to enable TEC to remotely monitor, control, and improve the operation and maintenance of its hybrid power system and enhance customer service.

Component 2. Energy Efficiency (EE) Investments. Estimated Cost: USD 1.2 million. This component is aimed at reducing energy demand and improving TEC’s revenue collection – it includes:

    a) Supply and installation of prepayment meters for TEC consumers and smart meters for the largest electricity consumers;

    b) Supply and installation of selected EE investments, such as enhanced insulation in buildings to be selected by TEC in accordance with criteria agreed with the Bank, and replacement of inefficient lighting and appliances in said buildings;

     c) Development of policy, standards and labeling for EE; and

    d) Activities aimed at raising consumer awareness on EE and related capacity-building activities and training.

Component 3. Technical Assistance and Project Management Support. Estimated Cost: USD 0.5 million

This component will fund activities such as coordination, administration, technical operation, procurement, financial management, environmental and social management, monitoring, evaluation, reporting, training, and the support for mainstreaming of gender dimensions.

So that seems to be it – the outer islands maybe about 90% renewable energy, and Fogafale about 40% renewable by 2020.  The current plan of record – probably better than most of the rest of the world.