Converting solid waste materials to Energy: A review

Abstract

This minireview characterizes waste materials and their composition in African cities using existent literature, highlights methods that can be used to convert waste materials to energy and examines the progress and prospects of use of wastes to enhance energy security in the regions. It was found that African cities produce about 125 million tons of municipal waste materials with a maximum per capita generation rate of 0.8 kg daily. Decomposable organic materials form majority of the waste constituents (40–80%) in major African cities. The evaluated approaches to convert waste to energy are based on thermal and biochemical conversions to produce energy rich substrates and gases that can be used as heat and power production feedstocks. It was also established that most African cities are yet to embrace waste-to-energy (WTE) initiatives of recycling due to financial, legislative and technical constrains despite flaring most of their municipal wastes and having adequate climatic conditions for production of landfill gas. To overcome the challenge, this research recommended for more commitment by governing and regulatory authorities of African cities to fund renewable energy initiatives such as WTE and the enactment of appropriate policies to implement such initiatives and optimize their potential to enhance energy security in the continent.