Comments on: Somebody's done the maths

By: Gahan

Gahan — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:08:27 +0000

In reply to Charles J Buttigieg. Changing the burners of boilers is no big deal. I recall the great Dom when he switched from oil to coal..... and Marsa was full of soot.

By: Suldat (sidru) ta' l-azzar

Suldat (sidru) ta' l-azzar — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:05:15 +0000

In reply to Antoine Vella. You got my point, Antoine. The boy shoots from the hip; he's inconsistent.

By: ciccio2010

ciccio2010 — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:41:06 +0000

In reply to Tal-Muzew.

Somebody with the name of John Manduca posted the material above on the times.online on 5 May.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100505/local/muscat-urges-nationalist-mps-to-vote-with-the-opposition-on-the-power-station

The difference between our calculations lies in the density value.

Tal-Muzew, is using a density of 0.49 tonnes per cubic metre. I have used a density of about 2.3 tonnes per cubic metre.
This is an important difference. I have used more than one source of information which suggest that my density value for fly ash is correct.

Of course, the higher the density, the lower the number of containers since a higher density means that more weight can be packed into the same space.

By: Charles J Buttigieg

Charles J Buttigieg — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:01:47 +0000

In reply to Antoine Vella. We are talking toxic waste, never mind the numbers of containers, a bucket full would be one bucket too many. [Daphne - What do you think the existing power stations produce, Charles? Non-toxic waste? You have a solution: emigrate to the Australian desert and live in a hut without electricity.]

By: Antoine Vella

Antoine Vella — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:15:34 +0000

In reply to Suldat (sidru) ta’ l-azzar.

Suldat tal-azzar,

I didn’t hear Joseph Muscat say that 31 tonnes of ash will all go into our children’s “chests” but he has to decide what it’s going to be: is the ash going to fill all those containers or children’s lungs?

By: Antoine Vella

Antoine Vella — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:11:52 +0000

In reply to Charles J Buttigieg. Yes Charles but why did they have a banner showing the waste per day but then put enough containers for a week? It was bound to create confusion and perhaps that was their intention.

By: ciccio2010

ciccio2010 — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:02:12 +0000

Something that may be added about fly ash is that it is used in the production of concrete. So it does not need to be disposed of in some third world country as some are telling the Maltese public. And there may be some value that can be recovered for it.

It is to be noted that the demand for concrete is mostly in urban developed or developing centres. Concrete is never really produced in locations distant from where development takes place, due to transportation costs.

[Daphne – Careful, or you might inspire yet another conspiracy theory involving Polidano Bros.]

By: Anthony

Anthony — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:33:14 +0000

This is so much better than Facebook.

By: Grezz

Grezz — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:30:15 +0000

In reply to Tim Ripard. Tim, you said that because you're assuming that they've all got one. Now you can laugh louder, Daphne.

By: ciccio2010

ciccio2010 — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:24:46 +0000

In reply to Charles J Buttigieg.

Charles, I can assure you the maths above is based on 31 tons daily multiplied by 7 days.

It is more likely that since only approx. 3 of the smaller containers (standard 20) are needed weekly, then the PL was showing the number of containers required per month.

I say, good business prospects for the container operators. Shall we ask the Auditor General if they had their fair share in corruption as well?