Green light for the controversial Nueva Tracjusa waste gasification plant in Juneda

LleidaThe controversial Nova Tracjusa project in Juneda (Garrigues), which aims to gasify urban waste as the main source of heat to dry excess slurry from pig farms, has now passed the final administrative process. After receiving all the environmental and planning authorizations, the City Council has now granted the final construction permit. GAP, the cooperative of 160 livestock farmers in the region, associated with the Griñó Group, can begin executing its project.

This cooperative will invest approximately €10 million to build a new plant that should be operational in just over a year, so that it can be up and running in 2026.

Tracjusa, which is also simultaneously promoting the optimization of its plant (permit), which will annually recover 45,000 tons of urban waste, known as RDF (refuse-derived fuels), to convert it into gas. Gasification is a thermochemical process, like incineration, but it uses little oxygen and transforms organic compounds into a gas that is intended to be used for energy. This is synthesis gas, which must be filtered to clean it in a circuit that should be closed. Furthermore, the heat produced by this system will allow the slurry to be dried, converting it into a fertilizer that is easy to transport and market.

Aside from the fact that the treatment of urban waste (mostly from the Barcelona metropolitan area) has drawn harsh criticism from surrounding municipalities, one of the main criticisms from opponents is the possibility that the gasification system will worsen the air quality in the region, which is currently sufficiently affected by intense activity.

Municipal opposition

The latest studies by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) indicate that in December, atmospheric levels of nitrates, sulfates, microparticles, ammonium, chlorine, and potassium soar, often exceeding those of Barcelona city. Persistent winter fog traps compounds and particles. But the developers of Nova Tracjusa claim that by replacing the current cogeneration system (which uses natural gas) with gasification, "CO emissions will be reduced by 20%."₂ will be reduced by 80%." Regarding dioxins and foreign substances, one of the main fears of the opposition, the ranchers assure that they will remain below the legal thresholds and much lower than any other type of combustion.

In any case, more than twenty parties They have shown their rejection for months explicit and have called for referendums for the end of March to solicit residents' opinions and convey them to the Generalitat (Catalan Government). In light of the granting of the building permit, the opposing mayors plan to meet in the coming hours "to analyze the advisability of continuing their consultations or taking more forceful action," declared the mayor of Les Borges Blanques, Josep Farran, one of the most active in this campaign.