Steve Harding, CEO, PMP Group
PMP Group backs technology with an environmental advantage – to the great advantage of many industries seeking emissions reductions in the era of carbon trading. Australian Innovation spoke to PMP CEO, Steve Harding.
Australian Innovation (AI): PMP started as a grass roots project in the 1970s, but arguably climate change and environmental sustainability have only become high priorities on government agendas in recent years. What inspired your early environmental focus?
Steve Harding (SH): Initially the PMP Group was a plumbing company but it then saw that the environment was becoming an important aspect of people’s lives. We are a water and wastewater treatment, design and construction company. So a lot of the things we were doing then had an environmental bent; [for example] getting water quality right so that it goes back into rivers and waterways at the right level. Th at was the sort of thing that the directors at that time saw as important – and we continue to do so today.
AI: Could you briefl y describe some of PMP’s most innovative strategies for reducing our ecological footprint?
SH: We are heavily involved in methane capture projects, which we like to call CARMHA – Covered Anaerobic Reactor Methane Harvesting Activities. There are a number of CARMHA projects we’ve completed both in Australia and internationally that use the methane gas from treatment plants as a resource. In some instances it is used for generating electricity and in others for fuelling boilers.
Because anaerobic treatment plants are capital intensive, we’ve also developed a small digester that we can manufacture very quickly at a much cheaper rate. So we can actually achieve the same outcome of capturing methane and using electricity on farms at an aff ordable price.
We back technology that has an environmental advantage, or can show an improved environmental application. We don’t actually push any particular product but we would support, for example, a product that has an aeration system, and uses low levels of energy, as it wouldn’t require as much power in the long term, and would therefore have good environmental outcomes.
AI: PMP Bioenergy has worked across many industries such as municipal sewerage, piggeries, rendering plants, abattoirs, tapioca plants and other food processing industries. What is the energy generated from these sources best used for?
SH: We can generate electricity from anything that produces high levels of organic waste. Th ere are many specific wastes that we simply treat differently. But they are all quite good for energy use and you can’t really rate one above the other. There’s an application for each of those areas.
The question of what purposes bioenergy resources are best suited to serving really depends on the particular sites that they are used for. Rendering plants have typically used the biogas from their waste plants as a gas for their boilers so it obviously has a direct advantage to them. After tapioca plants have been treated, they use their power to run factories from the waste but they could also export excess waste to the electricity grid in the right environment.
‘Scrubbers’ for a PMP CDM project in Sumatra, Indonesia
The appropriate use for the waste needs to be assessed properly and that’s what we do. We measure how much energy we can achieve against their necessary applications on the site and try to fi nd the best solution. For example, should we put a bigger generator in to generate more electricity because we can put it into the grid or should we just have a small generator and waste a portion of that gas? It really comes down to the site-specific assessment, which we provide our clients.
AI: PMP advocates the Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. If implemented next year, how will it aff ect PMP’s numerous specialist projects for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions?
SH: Th e scheme will enhance our services as Australians become more aware of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, I think people are going to become more conscious of this need because there will be a greater legal obligation to either pay or spend money to reduce emissions with smarter and more environmentally friendly technology. In terms of carbon trading, there are additional works that could potentially occur in areas such as agricultural and food processing.
And I think there is a public perception that environmental aspects should be taken into account in Australian business. So the scheme will also impact Australian businesses to the extent that they are personally affected by the dollar and the public’s perception of environmental value. But the domestic projects that are out there and the people who want to do the right thing environmentally will have to stand up on their own merit.
AI: The PMP Group prides itself on being a specialist in Clean Development Mechanisms. How does it help companies wanting to take part in carbon emission reduction projects in developing countries?
SH: The nature of the business we do is design and construction. We can advise clients on how to maximise the amount of return they will receive from their projects because we have a solid understanding of what the UN is looking for in relation to certain technologies.
We can also assist companies with their paperwork and the validation process and provide all the appropriate information. We can do the feasibility studies on the amount of gas that will be generated from the different sorts of waste and propose or design the appropriate technology for projects.
We are a company that has a culture based on engineering and plumbing. On that basis we can provide very well engineered solutions that also have practical applications. So we can save money for developers by producing solutions that are very practical long-term and can be operated very easily, whilst also creating very robust plants that clients can rely on from an income stream point of view.
Website: http://pmpgrp.com
