A study on the renewable energy potential of incineration of municipal solid wastes produced in Izmir province

Abstract

The efficient use of existing energy sources along with the development and widespread use of alternative energy sources, especially renewable energy sources becoming important issues. At this point, the energy content of municipal solid wastes (MSW) can be considered a renewable energy source. MSWs contain a large fraction of renewable material and are continuously produced as a result of human activity. Therefore, international authorized institutions such as the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) assess MSWs as renewable and sustainable energy sources. Incineration is one of the options for energy recovery from MSW as a waste-to-energy (WTE) approach. The R1 energy efficiency is a criterion introduced by the European Union Waste Directive (Directive 2008/98/EC) to differentiate waste operation by incineration as either disposal or energy recovery. The paper focused on the evaluation of the MSW incineration potential of İzmir province in consideration of R1 energy efficiency criteria. According to the R1, the MSW energy recovery (both heat and electricity) potentials were investigated considering the amount, composition, and calorific value of MSW generated in İzmir province. The population growth, MSW generation, and calorific value alternation up to 2026 were estimated for İzmir. Based on MSW future projections of İzmir province, overall energy recovery potential was assessed. It is forecasted that the average net calorific value (NCV) of MSW generated in İzmir will exceed 6 MJ/kg. This NCV will be suitable for energy recovery from the İzmir MSW. Assuming R1=0.65, it is predicted that a minimum of 2231 GWh/year of heat energy or 932 GWh/year of electricity can be produced annually in the next years 2022.