Considering Carbon Capture and Storage for Energy Generation from Municipal Solid Waste

Abstract

Modern waste management practices encourage the recovery of energy from municipal solid waste after efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle appropriate materials. Energy can be recovered through direct mass burn in a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility or through the collection and combustion of biogas generated in sanitary landfills. Many comparisons have been made although rarely using best practice assumptions for both technologies; WTE proponents tend to assume low collection efficiency while landfill proponents tend to assume low electrical conversion efficiency. In general, WTE plants can be considered to have a better environmental performance (reduced emissions) with landfill having lower total costs (social and environmental). Both strategies have similar costs when considering 77% collection efficiency and a high efficiency (30% electrical conversion) WTE plant that displaces electricity from coal. The introduction of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to waste management changes the landsca...