Electricity and combined heat and power from municipal solid waste; theoretically optimal investment decision time and emissions trading implications

Abstract

This version is available at https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/44930/ Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde. Unless otherwise explicitly stated on the manuscript, Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Please check the manuscript for details of any other licences that may have been applied. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for any profitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or private study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the Strathprints administrator: strathprints@strath.ac.ukThe Strathprints institutional repository (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk) is a digital archive of University of Strathclyde research outputs. It has been developed to disseminate open access research outputs, expose data about those outputs, and enable the management and persistent access to Strathclyde's intellectual output. Waste management has become a great social concern for modern societies. Landfill emissions have been identified among the major contributors of global warming and climate changes with significant impact in national economies. The energy industry constitutes an additional greenhouse gas emitter, while at the same time it is characterized by significant costs and uncertain fuel prices. The above implications have triggered different policies and measures worldwide to address the management of municipal solid wastes on the one hand and the impacts from energy production on the other. Emerging methods of energy recovery from waste may address both concerns simultaneously. In this work a comparative study of co-generation investments based on municipal solid waste is presented, focusing on the evolution of their economical performance over time. A real-options algorithm has been adopted investigating different options of energy recovery from waste: incineration, gasification and landfill biogas exploitation. The financial contributors are identified and the impact of greenhouse gas trading is analysed in terms of financial yields, considering landfilling as the baseline scenario. The results indicate an advantage of combined heat and power over solely electricity production. Gasification, has failed in some European installations. Incineration on the other hand, proves to be more attractive than the competing alternatives, mainly due to its higher power production efficiency, lower investment costs and lower emission rates. Although these characteristics may not drastically change over time, either immediate or irreversible investment decisions might be reconsidered under the current selling prices of heat, power and CO 2 allowances.

Policy Impact on Economic Viability of Biomass Gasification Systems in Indonesia

“…Apart from the challenge in power provision, a significant increase in the amount of waste has become a common global environmental problem. Thus, a proper strategy for waste management is imperative as it is a vital part for sustainability and environmental protection [10]. An appropriate approach should minimize the amount of waste and maximize its recovery for profitable utilization [11].…”

“…Nevertheless, due to its relative newness compared to older and proven technological options, its risk can delay private investment. For private sector to invest in this field, economic profit should be assured [10]. It has been identified that the high cost of implementation is the most important barrier in environmental management systems [15].…”

Gasification of a Dried Sewage Sludge in a Laboratory Scale Fixed Bed Reactor

“…Thus, the need for a proper waste management strategy is inevitable as it is a vital part of sustainability and environmental protection [1]. An appropriate approach should minimize the amount OPEN ACCESS of sewage sludge and maximize its recovery to useful utilization [2].…”

The Effective Management of Organic Waste Policy in Albania

“…According to the studies of specialists [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45], several thermochemical incineration technologies have been identified: (1) the principle of the process involving the complete oxidation of waste; (2) the type of exothermic reaction; (3) requirements for raw materials taking into account dry waste of biological and synthetic origin; (4) the method of pre-processing the raw material by drying and pelletizing; (5) the permitted moisture content of the raw material of 25-30%; (6) temperature (700-14,000 • C); (7) endurance time (minutes/seconds); (8) final products (heat and ash); (9) environmental issues (ash leakage and toxic gases); (10) cost of capital (medium-high); (11) degree of efficiency (50-60%); (12) product applications (heat and power applications, aggregate and filler); and ( 13) future (moderate) potential. The advantages of thermochemical incineration technology include: (1) the resulting ash can be used as a low-cost aggregate or filler for construction works on bridges, roads and highways; (2) it has relatively low capital requirements, requires less skilled labor compared to other WTE technologies and is more suitable for rural and urban areas; (3) it significantly reduces waste storage space; and (4) it has high energy generation efficiency and low emission rates due to the installation of pollution content control devices in incinerators that help maintain the emission limits required by law [44,[46][47][48][49][50][51].…”