Waste-to-energy Incineration Research Articles

Techno-Economic Assessment of Amine-Based Carbon Capture in Waste-to-Energy Incineration Plant Retrofit

This study offers a detailed techno-economic assessment of Carbon Capture (CC) integration in an existing Waste-to-Energy (WtE) incineration plant, focusing on retrofit application. Post-combustion carbon capture using monoethanolamine (MEA) was modeled for various low-scale plant sizes (3000, 6000, and 12,000 t of CO2 per year), using a process simulator, highlighting the feasibility and implications of retrofitting a WtE incineration plant with CC technology. The comprehensive analysis covers the design of the CC plant and a detailed cost evaluation. Capture costs range from 156 EUR/t to 90 EUR/t of CO2. Additionally, integrating the CO2 capture system reduces the overall plant absolute efficiency from 22.7% (without carbon capture) to 22.4%, 22.1%, and 21.5% for the different capture capacities. This research fills a gap in studying small-scale CC applications for the WtE incineration plants, providing critical insights for similar retrofit projects.

Environmental, Energy, and Techno-Economic Assessment of Waste-to-Energy Incineration

Waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration is a feasible way to respond to both the municipal solid waste management and renewable energy challenges, but few studies have been carried out on its environmental and economic impact in fast-developing southeastern Asian countries. To fill such a research gap, this study innovatively conducted a holistic assessment of WtE incineration application potential in Java Island, Indonesia. Here, we have established a life cycle assessment model for WtE incineration in Java, and have estimated the environmental impact, electricity generation potential, and techno-economic feasibility of implementing incineration by 2025. We have revealed that global warming potential, terrestrial ecotoxicity potential, eutrophication potential, and acidification potential are the major environmental impacts stemming from incineration activities. Moreover, we have estimated that promoting incineration in Java could reduce CO2 emissions by 41% on average. The electricity generated from incineration could contribute to 3.72% of Indonesia’s renewable energy target for the electricity grid mix by 2025. The cumulative energy production potential from incineration is estimated to reach 2,316,523 MWh/year in 2025 and will increase by 14.3% in 2050. The techno-economic assessment of incineration implementation in Java cities has been enumerated as feasible. The levelized cost of electricity from incineration (0.044 USD/kWh) is competitive with the current Indonesian electricity price (0.069 USD/kWh). Policies of minimizing incineration pollution, providing financial support guarantees, and overcoming social barriers have been proposed to facilitate the application of WtE incineration.

An Overview of Waste-to-Energy Incineration Integrated with Carbon Capture Utilization or Storage Retrofit Application

This paper provides an overview of the integration of Carbon Capture, Utilization, or Storage (CCUS) technologies with Waste-to-Energy (WtE) incineration plants in retrofit applications. It explains the operational principles of WtE incineration, including the generation of both biogenic and fossil CO2 emissions and the potential for CCUS technologies to mitigate these emissions. In addition, the paper covers the regulatory framework influencing the adoption of such technologies and highlights the recent Directive 2023/959 for the inclusion of WtE incinerators in the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) by 2028. This measure could provide a significant impulse for the integration of CCUS in WtE incineration plants. Moreover, it discusses the use of CO2 captured, which could be used in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU), and offers a comparison of the CCUS projects that have already been implemented worldwide, with a focus on the Netherlands and Italy. It illustrates the Netherlands’ advantageous position due to its developed CO2 market and early CCUS adoption, compared to Italy’s emerging market and initial storage solutions.

Seeking information about waste-to-energy incineration projects: The role of objective knowledge and benefit perceptions in an extended PRISM.

Although waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration projects have boosted the economic effectiveness of the waste management system, locals frequently view them with suspicion, opposition, or even outright rejection because of potential environmental and health risks. In this study, by incorporating two additional variables, namely, objective knowledge and benefit perceptions, the planned risk information seeking model (PRISM) was extended in the context of the WtE incineration project. A total of 1726 respondents were interviewed in person. Results from the structural equation modeling indicated that the extended PRISM achieved excellent fits, suggesting the generalizability of the model in these contexts. Objective knowledge and subjective knowledge have a positive and direct impact on perceived knowledge insufficiency. The impact of benefit and risk perceptions on worry is the opposite, with risk perceptions having a greater direct effect on worry. However, compared with risk perceptions, the direct effect that benefit perceptions have on perceived knowledge insufficiency is stronger. Additionally, perceived knowledge insufficiency partially or completely mediates the relationships between all antecedents, except perceived seeking control, and information-seeking intention. This study suggests that risk managers carefully consider how to establish powerful communication tactics to shape these antecedents when introducing a "not in my backyard" project to the local community.

Impact of environmental regulation on government subsides of public-private partnership waste-to-energy incineration projects: evidence from 66 cities in China

Introduction: Environmental regulation, as a vital component of public regulation in China, plays a crucial role in coordinating regional eco-efficiency, while the traditional hypothesis, Porter hypothesis, and uncertainty hypothesis offer three different perspectives for understanding the relationship between industry performance and environmental regulations.Methods: Based on the assumption of industry heterogeneity, 81 public-private partnership (PPP) waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration projects are analyzed using panel data from 66 cities within China during the period from 2013 to 2017 with the aims to reveal the underlying mechanism behind environmental regulation and the government subsides of public-private partnership waste-to-energy incineration projects by using multiple regression modeling.Results: The results show that the impact of environmental regulation on government subsides of PPP WTE projects has demonstrated an “Inverted-U”-shaped relationship with an inflection point, of which an increase in environmental regulation is positively correlated with an increase in subsidies at first then a negative correlation developing later.Discussion: The findings are significant in setting flexible environmental regulations according to the needs of regional economic and social development. In addition, they also supply a theoretical reference for promoting the WTE incineration industry’s sustainable and healthy development.

From “not in my backyard” to “please in my backyard”: Transforming the local responses toward a waste-to-energy incineration project in China

While investing in waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration facilities is conducive to promoting the circular economy and achieving energy transition, the Not-in-My-Backyard (NIMBY) conflict surrounding these projects has become prevalent in recent decades. Against this background, there is a noteworthy and counterintuitive phenomenon where previous opponents evolve into proponents, accepting and even embracing a previously resisted facility. We still know little about why and how this reversal of stance takes place, and this knowledge gap hinders our ability to effectively restore legitimacy and dispel misconceptions of some energy initiatives. To address this issue, we conducted an in-depth case study of the Jiufeng WTE incineration plant in China. Through this analysis, we traced the trajectory of how public opposition gradually dissipated and transformed into the Please-in-My-Backyard (PIMBY) responses. Our findings highlight the crucial role of meaning-making actions in dissipating radical boycott and the significance of providing substantive compensation in fostering a transition from mere acquiescence to active support. These insights will be helpful for project participants and authorities in addressing intractable environmental issues and meeting residents' demands.

Physicochemical characteristics of bottom ash from waste-to-energy incineration pilot plant in Indonesia

Municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal has emerged as a major concern in large cities across Indonesia. Waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration is an attractive method that can significantly reduce volume of waste; however it generates residues, namely bottom ash and fly ash. This study presents the characteristics of bottom ash from the MSW WtE incineration pilot plant in Indonesia. The physicochemical characterization of bottom ash was determined X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS). The results showed that CaO (46.80%) was the major component, followed by SiO2 (12.30%), Al2O3 (8.80%), and Fe2O3 (8.20%). SEM images showed that the surface morphology of bottom ash appeared flaky, rod-like, and irregular shape. Inert materials, like iron scrap, glass, ceramic, and stone, accounted for 16.7% of the total dry weight of bottom ash. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) test of 11 heavy metals in bottom ash was carried out, and all of them were detected at very low concentration, indicating that bottom ash possessed a low risk level to human health and environment. This study provides important information on the characteristics of bottom ash from MSW WtE incineration in Indonesia that would be useful in facilitating management and disposal of bottom ash.

Decision-theoretic rough set model and spatial analysis-based waste-to-energy incineration plant site selection: a case study in first-tier cities of China.

Selecting a sustainable waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration plant site is important for handling huge challenges created by on-going municipal solid waste. However, many studies with WTE incineration plant site problems fail to determine alternative evaluation criteria and cities beforehand, which may increase decision costs and evaluation risks. This paper proposes a novel methodology based on decision-theoretic rough set model and suitable analysis for selecting the optimal WTE incineration plant site. Firstly, from the features of cities, alternative evaluation criteria are determined by three-phase method. Considering different geographical features, a geographical index system is established. Secondly, subjective and objective criteria weights are determined by an improved DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) method and TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method-based linear programming model under the hesitant fuzzy linguistic context, respectively. Subjective and objective criteria weights are combined to form the final criteria weights by building an optimization model. Thirdly, the decision-theoretic rough set model is utilized to select alternative WTE incineration plant sites. We utilize spatial analysis adopting Geographic Information System technology to rank all alternative cities to build facilities. Finally, a numerical case is performed to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed methodology. The sensitivity analysis with the parameter [Formula: see text] ranking from 0 to 1 is performed, the result confirms that the proposed methodology has better robustness. Compared with the multi-criteria decision-making methods, the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed methodology are demonstrated.

Social cost of waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration siting: From the perspective of risk perception

Faced with the rapidly growing amounts of municipal solid waste, the development of waste-to-energy (WTE) plants is conducive to resolving the garbage siege problem. However, the public tend to exaggerate the fire and explosion risks and the toxic pollutants from WTE incineration plants. Protest campaigns against the siting of WTE facilities are mounting in China, implying that the excessive risk perceptions would result in social costs such as the reduction in net benefits for operating WTE facilities and market failure in the housing market due to negative externalities. Considering the importance of public risk perception in energy policy options, this study uses a social cost model to identify the determinants of risk perception, how the risk perception would influence facility expansion, and measure the non-market value of marginal efforts made by the government based on the field survey data in Shenzhen. Results showed that: (1) residency status, household income and living distance influence public risk perception; (2) the fitting risk perception significantly reduces the probability of approving facility expansion with the marginal effect of 8.8%; (3) exaggerated risk perceptions distort the adjacent property market and the marginal cost of government's efforts to maximize individual welfare is 651–932 USDs.

Potential Integration of Waste to Energy (WtE) and Carbon Mineralization Technology in Indonesia

Several issues such as environment, finance, and policies in the development of Waste to Energy (WtE) in Indonesia require strategic and appropriate handling. This study offers a promising solution by integrating WtE incineration process with carbon mineralization as one of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS): adding CO2 capture technology to the existing system and CO2 will be reacted with fly ash residue producing insoluble carbonates to stabilize the heavy metals contained. Moreover, with a combustion capacity of 1000 tons of waste/day scenario, it is equivalent to a reduction of carbon emissions of up to 25 tCO2 per day. A feasibility study in Estonia revealed that if WtE is integrated with carbon mineralization, the resulting Net Present Value (NPV) is up to 9,209,662 EUR. This can be an opportunity for Indonesia to solve the financial issues as the existing WtE only generates 133,500 EUR of NPV. Additionally, the existing policy states that the construction of a WtE plant must be accompanied by a residue treatment plant facility. So that in addition to increasing profits and environmental benefits, this integration also can help simplify the complexity of WtE development requirements because residue treatment becomes easier.

A study on the implementation of a circular economy in municipal solid waste management in the new capital city of Indonesia

The new capital city of Indonesia is designed with the concept of a smart and sustainable city where waste management will implement a smart trash system with the concept of a circular economy. The key performance indicator (KPI) for waste management are 60% recycled and net zero emission. The waste management system is based on a projected population of 276,125 people in 2045 with a waste generation rate of 0.7 kg/cap/day. In this study, the calculation of KPI fulfillment was carried out in two scenarios. In the first scenario, 31 tpd of inorganic waste will be recycled, while 32 tpd of waste and 15 tpd of sludge will be processed in a waste-to-energy (WtE) incinerator. The second scenario is if the recycling ecosystem has not been established, the combustible waste will be burned in the WtE incinerator while the incombustible waste will be landfilled. WtE incinerator with a capacity of 2x50 tpd with an electrical output of 2x250 kW will recycle waste into energy. The global warming potential of both scenarios is negative, which means there is a net zero emission. Based on this study, both scenarios can meet KPI and have the potential to implement a circular economy.

Risk analysis of public-private partnership waste-to-energy incineration projects in China: a hybrid fuzzy DEMATEL-ISM approach

PurposeMany waste-to-energy (WTE) plants are constructed and operated using the public-private partnership (PPP) mode in China. However, risk events of PPP WTE incineration projects sometimes occur. This study aims to clarify the relationship of risks in China's PPP WTE incineration projects and identify the key risks accordingly and risk transmission paths.Design/methodology/approachA risk list of PPP WTE incineration projects was obtained based on literature analysis. Moreover, a hybrid approach combining fuzzy sets, decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) was developed to analyze the causality of risks, explore critical risks and reveal the risk transmission paths. The quantitative analysis process was implemented in MATLAB.FindingsThe results show that government decision-making risk, government credit risk, government supervision behavior risk, legal and policy risk, revenue and cost risk and management capacity risk are the critical risks of PPP WTE incineration projects in China. These critical risks are at different levels in the risk hierarchy and often trigger other risks.Originality/valueCurrently, there is a lack of exploration on the interaction between the risks of PPP WTE incineration projects. This study fills this gap by examining the key risks and risk transfer pathways of PPP WTE incineration projects from the perspective of risk interactions. The findings can help the public and private sectors to systematically understand the risks in PPP WTE incineration projects, thus enabling them to identify the risks that need to be focused on when making decisions and to optimize risk prevention strategies. The proposed hybrid approach can offer methodological ideas for risk analysis of other types of PPP projects.

Does the renovation of waste-to-energy incineration plants attenuate the housing price gradient? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in Shenzhen, China

Waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration plants, which inevitably cause negative externalities due to their impacts on the surrounding environment, have encountered frequent protests from residents during their construction and operation. The negative externalities could lead to property value losses by impacting residents' marginal willingness to pay (MWTP). To assess whether the renovation of WTE incineration plants can attenuate the housing price gradient around the plants, we use the completion of the renovation project of Yantian Plant in Shenzhen as a quasi-natural experiment to exploit difference-in-differences (DID) estimators, and propose a hedonic price model based on resale apartment transaction data within 10 km of the plant. Results indicate that the renovation completion narrows the price gap between proximate and distant apartments from the plant by 35.25%, and the housing price gradient begins to decrease significantly in the late construction period. Moreover, the effect on the housing price gradient remains sustained throughout the whole post-treatment period. Furthermore, the analysis of the underlying mechanism suggests that the renovation completion attenuates the housing price gradient through the improved environment.

Cost-benefit analysis of micro WtE incinerator applications in an urban environment: A case study at the Hong Kong International Airport

The globally located waste-to-energy (WtE) incinerators are generally of large capacities with high investments and long construction periods. This paper aims to evaluate the financial feasibility of micro WtE incinerators application in an urban environment using cost-benefit analysis (CBA). First, we propose a CBA method for such an application, considering two energy recovery methods. The advantage of carbon emission reduction over the existing disposal method is converted into monetary terms through a carbon trading system. Second, two facilities with different incineration technologies are considered. Six possible application scenarios are analyzed, taking into account differentiated benefit compositions. Third, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis is carried out to measure the impact of the parameter changes. Finally, the Hong Kong International Airport is applied as a case study. The results reveal the great potential for micro WtE incinerator applications in an urban environment, and the low-temperature magnetization facility has a comparative advantage over the high-temperature pyrolysis gasification facility.

Exploring the effects of information insufficiency on residents’ intention to seek information about waste-to-energy incineration projects

Waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration provides an efficient and sustainable solution for disposing of municipal waste. However, the planning and construction of WTE incineration projects are prone to generating strong opposition from neighbors because of the potential environmental and health risks. From the standpoint of risk communication, this study explores the core determinants of information seeking intention regarding WTE incineration projects. The hypothesized model emphasizing the important role of information insufficiency is constructed based on the Risk Information Seeking and Processing model. The relationships between information seeking intention and core components are investigated using a survey of 1726 residents. The structural equation modeling results show that perceived current knowledge, perceived risk, negative emotion, perceived information gathering capacity, informational subjective norms, information insufficiency, and relevant channel beliefs are the primary predictors of intention to seek information. Additionally, the results indicate that information insufficiency has a mediating effect on the direction of intention to seek information. Relevant channel beliefs, in particular, affect information seeking intention indirectly through information insufficiency. Moreover, negative emotions such as ‘worry’ and ‘annoyance’ have different impacts on information insufficiency. ‘Worry’ positively influences information insufficiency, but ‘annoyance’ would be negatively related to information insufficiency. The theoretical implications are discussed, as well as practical guidance on risk communication.

Life cycle assessment of waste management in rural areas in the transition period from mixed collection to source-separation

Rural solid waste management is essential for fulfilling sustainable development goals, especially in developing countries. However, quantitative study on this aspect has been little and far behind the urban areas. In this study, the environmental impacts of four typical rural solid waste management systems were quantified using life cycle assessment based on data from field investigations of five towns across four seasons. Sensitivity analysis was used to determine the most influential parameters. The results showed that landfilling mixed waste contributed the highest environmental impacts. By substituting landfilling with incineration, the environmental impacts (i.e., global warming potential, terrestrial acidification potential, fossil resource scarcity, freshwater ecotoxicity potential) dropped about 110%-900%. When shifting collection schemes to source separation, the environmental impacts also decreased by approximately 50%-200%. However, the environmental impacts of applying source separation to the existing management systems with mixed collection and disposal facilities of landfill or waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration are unclear and depend on the performance of decentralized composting and anaerobic digestion facilities, which need further investigations. Compared with urban cases, the landfill in rural areas emits higher greenhouse gas (GHG), and WTE incineration plants in rural areas have similar GHG emissions to WTE in urban areas. Besides, energy recovery was the most influential process in WTE systems and a 1% improvement on that would bring over 10% progress on global warming potential impact category. These findings can be useful for improving and developing rural domestic waste treatment in China and other developing countries.

Evaluating the social license to operate of waste-to-energy incineration projects: A case study from the Yangtze River Delta of China

The public has a strong resistance to such potential hazardous facilities as nuclear power plants and waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration due to their potentially negative environment and health effects, which leads to difficulties in siting their location. Exploring the public's cognition and acceptance of such facilities is therefore vital for the sustainable development of the potentially hazardous facilities industry. Based on four typical WTE incineration plants located in four central cities of the Yangtze River Delta, the current study evaluates the social acceptance of potentially hazardous facilities in developed regions of China by a questionnaire survey based on the ‘social license to operate’ (SLO) framework widely used in energy/mining sectors. The results show that the SLO of WTE incineration plants is relatively low and presents a clear dimension structure that shows differences with the change of cities. Enriching enterprises' SLO through the accumulation of social capital can help the public accept WTE projects.

Waste to Energy Feasibility. Economic Assessment and Modelling of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration

Currently, most of the municipal solid waste generated in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region is sent straight to landfill. Landfills cause multiple problems, such as CH4 and CO2 emissions, landfill fires, odors, and groundwater pollution. Waste-to-Energy (WtE) incineration is a way to recover the waste\'s energy in the forms of electricity and heat. In this study, a model for estimating the profitability of a WtE incineration plant is presented and applied to the city of St. Petersburg and Leningrad region. Based on the data used, WtE incineration is economically feasible in the area, however changes in estimates impact the economic feasibility, and the changes in the revenues have the highest impact on the outcome.

Evaluating the Environmental and Economic Performance of Municipal Solid Waste Disposal by All-Component Resource Recovery

Disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) has become increasingly challenging. In this study, we used life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate environmental impacts and financial performance of a new approach for MSW disposals, namely All-components Resource Recovery (AcRR), which is based on automatic sorting. We compared AcRR with the standardized Waste-to-Energy incineration (WtE) to provide decision-making support for MSW management. The results show that WtE and AcRR are both good MSW resource treatment methods. Through MSW disposal, WtE generates electricity, while AcRR generates secondary resources such as metals, plastics, pulp and organic fertilizers. WtE releases trace amounts of HCl, PM10, heavy metals, dioxins and dust, while AcRR does not produce such pollutants; AcRR produces more odor gases such as SO2 and H2S. AcRR produces four environmental issues, i.e., Global Warming, Acidification, Photochemical Ozone Synthesis, and Eutrophication, each of which has a smaller impact than WtE; WtE has two more impacts than AcRR: Human Toxicity and Soot and Ashes. The total environmental impact potential of WtE is 3.38 times that of AcRR, and the greenhouse gas emission equivalent is 6.82 times that of AcRR. The cost of construction and operation of AcRR is lower than that of WtE, while the net profit of AcRR is much higher. In conclusion, AcRR is able to screen the mixed MSW into various secondary resources with less environmental emissions and environmental impacts and better financial performance; it may be a promising MSW disposal approach, especially for small cities, but a corresponding supporting industrial system is needed.

Waste-to-energy and electricity generation: Analysis for Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is a developing country experiencing both rapid economic growth and vast urbanization. These have led to waste disposal problems. Therefore, waste-to-energy (WTE) processes, a source of renewable energy, are expected to play an increasingly important role in sustainable management of municipal solid waste (MSW). The purpose of this paper is to estimate the energy produced from the WTE method, to assist policymakers to develop a strategy that enhances the environmental quality, through reducing energy generation in the electricity sector. This study begins by presenting Saudi's current MSW management situation and its waste disposal process as well as the major challenges associated with Saudi's WTE incineration before discussing the economic and environmental benefits of the WTE method. Since waste can be used to produce energy for electricity and heat, this study estimated energy generated from WTE technology through employing estimated baseline scenario and future scenarios. Findings indicated that future scenarios are better than the business-as-usual scenario. The paper concludes that the WTE method can produce energy for electricity generation which in turn reduces the volume and the production of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced from MSW. The waste-to energy approach with supportive policies could lead the country to achieve sustainable development.