Wood pellets, waste and hurricane debris could be used to produce environmentally friendly energy for Bermuda. Two overseas companies put forward the proposals at a public forum on Tuesday evening organised by Belco, which is aiming to produce 20 percent of the Island's power from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Mike Daniel, Belco's vice president of engineering, told the audience at Bermuda College that the company received 15 submissions after advertising for renewable energy firms interested in supplying power to the Island last year.

He said there was "no one silver bullet" which would allow Belco to move away from fossil fuels and reach the 20 percent target, but that diversity was the way forward. Mr. Daniel said a shortlist of companies using different methods to produce renewable energy was drawn up in January.

Two of the candidates — biomass energy generators Plasco Energy Group and Intrinergy — gave presentations last night. John Keppler, CEO of Virginia-based Intrinergy, said Bermuda needed to focus on tried-and-tested technologies which would provide a reliable and cost-effective source of power.

His firm proposes to ship wood pellets to the Island and use landfill from Marsh Folly as a carbon-neutral fuel for Bermuda. Natural debris left after hurricanes could also be used.

He said Bermuda could address its growing need for capacity in an environmentally conscious way with an Intrinergy plant, preferably built on a quay to allow easy access for the flat-bottomed barges bringing the wood pellets.

Mr. Keppler said: "We build the plant, we finance it, we operate it and we take the cost risk, supplying energy under a long-term agreement to customers in Bermuda."

He said the company had similar operations in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. Bradley Smith, vice president of business development at Plasco, explained how the 200 tons of municipal waste the Island produces each day could be turned into energy. He said Plasco would build a plant where the rubbish would be "gasified" to produce electricity and commercially viable by-products, such as slag and potable water.

Mr. Smith said 200 tons of waste a day would produce ten megawatts of electricity and that the process was odourless and produced little noise. "A waste facility does not have to be ugly, it does not have to be boring," he said. "It can actually be something a community can be proud of."

He said a Plasco plant would take up about five acres and would create local jobs. He said the company — which has a plant in Ottawa processing 85 tons a day of municipal solid waste — would guarantee its work with a bond, meaning the money would be in place to remove the facility if it failed.

For more information on the two firms visit www.plascoenergygroup.com and www.intrinergy.com/bermuda. Another forum, focusing on using natural resources to generate energy, will take place at Bermuda College's North Hall lecture theatre on Tuesday, April 7, from 6.30 p.m. to 9 p.m.