Co-combustion of municipal solid waste and coal for carbon emission reduction: A bi-level multi-objective programming approach

Abstract

The continuing growth in carbon emissions, which are a major contributor to climate change, highlights the need for sustainable coal-fired power generation. With a focus on carbon emission reduction, a bi-level multi-objective optimization model for co-combustion of municipal solid waste and coal under an uncertain environment is used. The model considers not only the relationship between the authority as the leader and the coal-fired power plants as the followers, but also the trade-off between social welfare and allocation satisfaction. Fuzzy theory is applied to deal the imprecise activities and observations during co-combustion. A practical case in Sichuan Province, China is given to verify the efficiency and practicality of the proposed optimization method. The ε-constraint method and Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions are employed to optimize the global equilibrium. Various scenarios are then analyzed and discussed, from which it is found that the decision makers can develop better strategy in accordance with the attitudes towards dioxin emissions and allocation satisfaction. This method was found to be capable of reducing carbon emissions by 6.96 ×105 tonnes and disposing of 1.28×106 tonnes of MSW compared with coal combustion alone. It also indicates that additional allocations would be given to coal-fired power plants with cleaner production. Management recommendations for both decision makers are given to provide support in achieving better MSW management strategies and realizing sustainable development. Given the complexity of co-combustion, this model cannot fully capture all parameters; therefore, a more comprehensive model that includes other toxic emissions such as trace metals is to be developed in future research.