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Contributions from
the Column
Focus
Assessment of the first years
Environmental protection in Thailand
Global education for sustainable development
The DEG as largest financing organisation
The BMZ programme / The criteria for PPP projects
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Two successful small-scale projects
Environmental
protection in Thailand
By Edda Krüger
Ecological wastewater treatment and air-conditioning of hotel bungalows with solar energy – two successful environmental technology projects realised in Thailand by a German company and promoted by the DEG.
German environmental technology abroad was earlier a privilege of big companies. Introducing it usually means adjustments that small companies can hardly afford, especially since a risk is always connected with such a project. But it is precisely the activities of small to medium-sized enterprises abroad that is desired.
The aid of public-private partnerships (PPP) now enables preparatory measures for investment projects which otherwise would not be implemented. The Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, or German Investment and Development Company (DEG), makes available its expertise as a financing and consultancy institution and funding aimed at contributing to economic growth in developing and reform countries. But not only the private sector in these countries benefits from this instrument; German companies do so too.
Contact with
the DEG
Our contact with the DEG came about via a Germany company that had already implemented a PPP project. The processing of our application for promotion of our project was very simple right from the start. We noticed that the DEG focused on the business in hand. After an initial personal contact we submitted an outline of our project which was examined and processed in a very short time. True, the DEG had many questions, but almost everything was clarified in talks or by e-mail. The DEG maintains specialist departments covering certain sectors, so one is very quickly dealing with experts who are able to understand a project idea. After our project found basic approval, more detailed work on it was necessary. The project had to be described in-depth and a precise calculation of the expected costs submitted. As a small company that has little capacity for this kind of work that put us off at first, but the DEGÕs support was very constructive and helpful. We had also expected long processing times here. But the final questions came after only a few days, and the positive decision: the DEG was prepared to co-finance our project.
What was the project about? Tourism is one of ThailandÕs most important industries. But many tourists suffer from the unpleasant smells that permeate every city in that beautiful country, especially those from untreated sewage. The Thai government recognised the problem long ago and passed laws to prevent further degradation of the environment and remedy existing damage. The Thai authorities showed great interest in approaches to solutions, especially from Germany. Hence a Thai-German conference on waste and wastewater took place in Bangkok in February 2000. Thai political decision-takers and officials of the authorities affected met representatives of German scientific institutions and companies in the waste and wastewater industry. The Thais were not seeking high-tech solutions, but concepts which could be adjusted to their countryÕs climatic, social and economic conditions. This laid the foundation stone for a promising PPP project between a Thai hotelier, the German private limited company J. KrŸger PflanzenklŠranlagen [reed bed purification system] and the DEG, which was completed successfully in February 2002.
Hardly any sewage treatment
in Thailand
The way the four-star hotel on an island off the South Thailand coast dealt with its sewage was typical of the countrys hotels and municipalities. One could smell sewage everywhere, and the soiling of the beach could be seen to be growing. The hotel management had got used to it, but wanted to find a solution because of the standards the guests demanded and to protect nature. The hotel compound consists of more than 100 bungalows, two large restaurants, a laundry, and accommodation for hotel staff. This produced a wastewater flow of more than 100 cubic metres per day. The aim was to clean the entire amount of effluent on-site and reuse it for flushing toilets and irrigating the gardens. The challenge, among other things, was to find enough space on the closely-built hotel grounds for eight reed beds. Now, the gardens consist of sewage treatment plants integrated in the grounds and next to the bungalows, which the hotel guests do not notice.
The reed bed sewage treatment systems our company manufactures – called subterra because of the underground wastewater entry – have been tried and tested many times in Germany and in use for a long time. We had reason to believe that the technology would also work under tropical conditions, and based on our own experience and corresponding feedback from Thailand we saw opportunities for larger investments as well. But it is not enough simply to export such German technology. In preparing for a greater engagement, besides making necessary adjustments to suit the special climatic features it was a matter of using domestic resources, integrating local products and – which had proved to be especially important – giving intensive training to the operatorÕs service personnel. And all that with an uncertain outcome. It is exactly on that point that without the DEGÕs help small companies often must give up.
Two years have passed since the start-up of the first trial system on the hotel grounds. Since one year ago the hotelÕs entire wastewater has been purified in the subterra reed bed sewage treatment plants. The installation serves as a demonstration object that is visited regularly by Thai institutions and people in the hotel industry. Crystal-clear water in the systemÕs outflow enthuses every sceptic.
German technology helps with problems
With its new legislation on the environment, Thailand is on the way to making up for past omissions. The Thais now orient themselves very strongly on Europe. Thai industry is also now called upon to ensure appropriate purification of its special types of wastewater. The DEG can also help here with, among other things, PPP measures, thus serving concretely environmental protection and a growing awareness of the environment in Thailand.
Whoever deals with the subject of the environment will easily recognise the next problem. During our work on Phi Phi Island, South of Phuket, diesel generators were run to provide power for the many air-conditioning units of the hotel bungalows. A huge machine made a lot of noise next to every hotel, for the tourist likes it cool. But air-conditioning via solar energy and intelligent energy management should be able to save oil and promote sound development where sustainability is still unknown – in tourism.
So we are currently working on a so-called zero-emission bungalow. No air-conditioning, but cooling with the aid of the sun. No waste of electricity by customary domestic appliances, but appropriate house technology. No standard bungalow with insufficient insulation, but solar architecture appropriate to the location and reed bed sewage treatment installations enabling reuse of the water. The aim is to equip an entire hotel in this way. That is not pie in the sky, but sustainable tourism.
Thailand will not and cannot do without its four million visitors per year, nor its beautiful nature. Its goal is clear and the laws are in place to achieve them. To implement them the Thais need experts, including, for the time being, from abroad. We have been able to make our contribution.
Edda Krüger is joint owner of the company J. Krüger Pflanzenkläranlagen GmbH in Schloss Duckwitz, near Rostock. edda.krueger@subterra.de
Net resources
www.subterra.de
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