Technology Tuesdays: Waste to Energy Technology (WtE)

Hello Partners!

One of the biggest issues we face today is what to do with everything that gets discarded on a day-to-day basis.  Only so much of it can be recycled.  Since waste is so abundant, it makes sense to put effort into turning this waste into something that can be used.  In most cases, that something is energy.

One example of this is Japan.  As a country, Japan generates roughly 43 million tons of waste on an annual basis.  However, Japan has an excess of 1,100 waste processing facilities located throughout the country to process this municipal waste.  As a result, only about 10% of their municipal waste actually goes to a landfill.  Where does the other 90% go?  It is incinerated, the harmful chemicals are detoxified, and the resulting thermal energy is harnessed and used as an energy source.

Waste-to-Energy Technology, also commonly known as WtE can be used to convert chemicals from waste into, ultimately, electricity, heat, or steam.  There are four primary technologies that are used to achieve the result: thermal, mechanical & thermal, thermochemical, and biochemical.  Thermal consists of incineration to create direct combustion.  This is the most common and currently the most efficient method.  However, mechanical & thermal incorporates pulverization and drying of the waste matter.  This creates a solid, refuse-derived fuel.  Further still, there is thermo-chemical which can consist of torrefaction, plasma techno, gasification, pyrolysis, or liquefaction.  All of which generates a type of gas, oil, or char used for fuel in combustion.  Finally, there is biochemical which can be either fermentation or anaerobic digestion.  These processes produce ethanol and biogas, respectively.

There are many ways waste can be converted into a fuel source, reducing the amount of waste that goes into landfills which, in turn, reduces further pollution.  We will be keeping our eyes peeled for further developments and expansion of this technology.

Keep an eye out for more ways to save!

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Sources:
https://spectra.mhi.com/a-green-solution-for-municipal-solid-waste?gclid=Cj0KCQjw-uH6BRDQARIsAI3I-Ue3Y_og3mgSJ2b-LA54izPgiE06Sp5tQWjOpCxlW1j_XLKUo-sbza0aAsjIEALw_wcB
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/biomass/waste-to-energy.php
https://www.prescouter.com/2017/10/waste-to-energy-technologies-available/#:~:text=WtE%20technology%20is%20an%20energy,the%20market%20among%20WtE%20technologies.