Life cycle sustainability assessment of waste-to-electricity plants for 2030 power generation development scenarios in western Lombok, Indonesia under multi-criteria decision-making approach

Abstract

Globally, the dual challenges of power shortages and waste management underscore the critical need for innovative and sustainable energy solutions. Addressing these issues is essential for achieving environmental sustainability, economic development, and social well-being. This paper proposes an integrated life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) of waste-to-electricity (WtE) technologies for the future energy mix in Western Lombok, Indonesia which strongly faces power shortage and waste management challenges. The proposed LCSA assesses three WtE technologies, including gasification, incineration, and landfill gas (LFG) with 5 environmental, 3 social, and 4 economic indicators to estimate the final sustainability score under a multi-criteria decision-making framework. Also, a comparative analysis from the LCSA perspective for different WtE technologies, along with coal, and diesel power plants is conducted as a decision support tool in the 2030 power capacity development scenarios. To indicate the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed model, the robust decision-making analysis using different important weights on sustainability aspects is investigated. Results show LFG is the most sustainable technology among all options scoring around 0.78. However, coal with a levelized cost of 0.42 $/MWh, and diesel with a payback period of 1.75 years are much more economical options for western Lombok. Sensitivity analysis proves that electricity price is a key parameter strongly affecting the final sustainability score. If supportive policies are adopted associated with electricity produced from WtE, this technology can experience a 16.2 % increase, making it an economic option for Lombok in the future.