Publication detail

Biowaste Treatment and Waste-to-Energy - Environmental Benefits

PAVLAS, M. DVOŘÁČEK, J. PITSCHKE, T. PECHE, R.

Original Title

Biowaste Treatment and Waste-to-Energy - Environmental Benefits

Type

journal article in Web of Science

Language

English

Original Abstract

Biowaste represents a significant fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW). Its separate collection is considered as a useful measure to enhance waste management systems in both the developed and developing world. This paper aims to compare the environmental performance of three market-ready technologies currently used to treat biowaste—biowaste composting, fermentation, and biowaste incineration in waste-to-energy (WtE) plants as a component of residual municipal solid waste (RES). Global warming potential (GWP) was applied as an indicator and burdens related to the operation of facilities and credits obtained through the products were identified. The environmental performance of a WtE plant was investigated in detail using a model, implementing an approach similar to marginal-cost and revenues, which is a concept widely applied in economics. The results show that all of the treatment options offer an environmentally friendly treatment (their net GWP is negative). The environmental performance of a WtE plant is profoundly affected by its mode of its operation, i.e., type of energy exported. The concept producing environmental credits at the highest rate is co-incineration of biowaste in a strictly heat-oriented WtE plant. Anaerobic digestion plants treating biowaste by fermentation produce fewer credits, but approximately twice as more credits as WtE plants with power delivery only.

Keywords

biowaste; waste-to-energy; composting; fermentation; greenhouse gases; global warming potential

Authors

PAVLAS, M.; DVOŘÁČEK, J.; PITSCHKE, T.; PECHE, R.

Released

17. 4. 2020

Publisher

MDPI

ISBN

1996-1073

Periodical

ENERGIES

Year of study

13

Number

8

State

Swiss Confederation

Pages from

1

Pages to

17

Pages count

17

URL

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/8/1994/htm

Full text in the Digital Library

http://hdl.handle.net/11012/188958

BibTex

@article{BUT163664,
  author="Martin {Pavlas} and Jan {Dvořáček} and Thorsten {Pitschke} and René {Peche}",
  title="Biowaste Treatment and Waste-to-Energy - Environmental Benefits",
  journal="ENERGIES",
  year="2020",
  volume="13",
  number="8",
  pages="1--17",
  doi="10.3390/en13081994",
  issn="1996-1073",
  url="https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/8/1994/htm"
}