Spatial distribution and management of the energy potential of municipal solid waste incineration: A case study of Lhasa, China

Abstract

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a typical ecologically fragile region. Lhasa, as the most densely populated area on the plateau, is generating a large amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) with the development and improvement of living standards. However, due to the special geographical distribution, the energy utilization of MSW is limited, which is considered to be guided by the energy distribution of the MSW. In this work, Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is proposed to map the potential energy distribution of MSW in Lhasa City, which could provide a piece of reliable information on MSW management and energy utilization in Lhasa City. The potential energy value of MSW is high in urban areas, up to 2.082 × 109 MJ in Chengguan District, and low in suburban regions, up to 6.95 × 107 MJ. The energy potential per unit area of MSW is 87.7 kJ/m2 to 3980 kJ/m2 in urban regions and 10.5 kJ/m2 to 67.1 kJ/m2 in suburban regions. Therefore, the MSW in the urban regions and the suburban regions is suitable for centralized energy utilization and decentralized processing, respectively. The potential energy per unit mass of dry-based MSW is 13100 kJ/kg to 21600 kJ/kg and per unit mass of wet-based MSW is 8110 kJ/kg to 14300 kJ/kg due to the high moisture content of food waste, which is above 70% in most regions. Therefore, the separation of food waste and the MSW can reduce the moisture content of MSW, which is beneficial to its subsequent energy recovery and utilization, not only improving the lack of data on the potential energy distribution of MSW in high altitude plateaus, but also providing sound recommendations for the management of energy utilization in MSW incineration at high altitude.