Technology assessment of waste disposal technologies for Tillamook county

Abstract

We propose a two-level filter system to evaluate the potential for alternative waste management practices by conversion of locally-generated waste products such as animal mortality, manure, and wood waste into beneficial products such as energy in Tillamook county of Oregon. At the first level - coarse grained filter, three basic factors, technical readiness level (TRL), scaling capacity, and feedstock, are used to initially filter out the scanned technologies which can be potentially used in waste management. At the secondary level filter - fine grained filter, a numeric scoring model is created to evaluate technologies from the output of the first level filter. Since many factors will impact the selection of a technology, HDM (Hierarchical decision model) is used to score technologies. From technical, economic, social, and environmental perspectives, hierarchical multi-criteria factor structure is created, and constant-sum and pair-wise comparison are used to subjectively create the priority probability list about technologies. Composting technology, rendering technology, and hydrolysis are analyzed in detail. This developed alternative strategy will help to mitigate local liabilities, promote green jobs, develop clean energy, and reduce the carbon footprint in Tillamook County.