IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v79y2017icp414-439.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Electricity generation and GHG emission reduction potentials through different municipal solid waste management technologies: A comparative review

Author

Listed:
  • Rajaeifar, Mohammad Ali
  • Ghanavati, Hossein
  • Dashti, Behrouz B.
  • Heijungs, Reinout
  • Aghbashlo, Mortaza
  • Tabatabaei, Meisam

Abstract

The increasing trend in the consumption of various materials has also led to a huge increase in the final waste streams especially in the form of municipal solid waste (MSW) and the consequent environmental pollutions in particular greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These have made MSW management a significant environmental issue for governments and policy-makers. To address these challenges, developed countries have implemented sustainable material management (SMM) strategies which have been comprehensively reviewed herein. Moreover, waste generation statistics reported for most of the developed and developing countries as well as the existing gaps in MSW management among these countries have been fully discussed. The present paper was also aimed at comprehensively assessing electricity generation potentials from MSW using an integrated solid waste management system (including three different technologies of anaerobic digestion (AD), incineration, and pyrolysis-gasification) while the consequent GHG emission reduction potentials as a result of their implementation were also explored. To facilitate the understanding of the potential impacts of these treatment strategies, Iran's data were used as a case study. More specifically, the theoretical and technical potentials of electricity generation were calculated and the GHG emission reduction potentials were estimated using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. Overall, it was found that 5005.4–5545.8GWh of electricity could be generated from MSW in Iran annually which could lead to approximately 3561–4844 thousand tons of avoided CO2eq. Such GHG reductions would be translated into approximately 0.5% of Iran's annual GHG emissions and would be considered a promising achievement given Iran's international GHGs reduction commitment, i.e., 4% reduction of anthropogenic GHGs emissions by 2030 below the business as usual scenario. Such findings could also be modeled for the other developing countries around the world where efficient MSW management is yet to be implemented.

Suggested Citation

  • Rajaeifar, Mohammad Ali & Ghanavati, Hossein & Dashti, Behrouz B. & Heijungs, Reinout & Aghbashlo, Mortaza & Tabatabaei, Meisam, 2017. "Electricity generation and GHG emission reduction potentials through different municipal solid waste management technologies: A comparative review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 414-439.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:79:y:2017:i:c:p:414-439
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2017.04.109
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032117306147
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2017.04.109?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Budzianowski, Wojciech M., 2016. "A review of potential innovations for production, conditioning and utilization of biogas with multiple-criteria assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1148-1171.
    2. Budzianowski, Wojciech M. & Budzianowska, Dominika A., 2015. "Economic analysis of biomethane and bioelectricity generation from biogas using different support schemes and plant configurations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 658-666.
    3. Rajendran, Karthik & Kankanala, Harshavardhan R. & Martinsson, Rakel & Taherzadeh, Mohammad J., 2014. "Uncertainty over techno-economic potentials of biogas from municipal solid waste (MSW): A case study on an industrial process," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 84-92.
    4. Zhang, Cunsheng & Su, Haijia & Baeyens, Jan & Tan, Tianwei, 2014. "Reviewing the anaerobic digestion of food waste for biogas production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 383-392.
    5. Saralees Nadarajah & Emmanuel Afuecheta & Stephen Chan, 2015. "GARCH modeling of five popular commodities," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 1691-1712, June.
    6. Fazeli, Alireza & Bakhtvar, Farzaneh & Jahanshaloo, Leila & Che Sidik, Nor Azwadi & Bayat, Ali Esfandyari, 2016. "Malaysia׳s stand on municipal solid waste conversion to energy: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1007-1016.
    7. Ouda, O.K.M. & Raza, S.A. & Nizami, A.S. & Rehan, M. & Al-Waked, R. & Korres, N.E., 2016. "Waste to energy potential: A case study of Saudi Arabia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 328-340.
    8. Zheng, Lijun & Song, Jiancheng & Li, Chuanyang & Gao, Yunguang & Geng, Pulong & Qu, Binni & Lin, Linyan, 2014. "Preferential policies promote municipal solid waste (MSW) to energy in China: Current status and prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 135-148.
    9. Cherubini, Francesco & Bargigli, Silvia & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2009. "Life cycle assessment (LCA) of waste management strategies: Landfilling, sorting plant and incineration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2116-2123.
    10. Bharat Diwakar & Gilad Sorek, 2015. "Finite Lifetimes, Population, and Growth," Auburn Economics Working Paper Series auwp2015-14, Department of Economics, Auburn University.
    11. Edwards, Joel & Othman, Maazuza & Burn, Stewart, 2015. "A review of policy drivers and barriers for the use of anaerobic digestion in Europe, the United States and Australia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 815-828.
    12. Noor, Zainura Zainon & Yusuf, Rafiu Olasunkanmi & Abba, Ahmad Halilu & Abu Hassan, Mohd Ariffin & Mohd Din, Mohd Fadhil, 2013. "An overview for energy recovery from municipal solid wastes (MSW) in Malaysia scenario," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 378-384.
    13. Melikoglu, Mehmet, 2013. "Vision 2023: Assessing the feasibility of electricity and biogas production from municipal solid waste in Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 52-63.
    14. Rios, Mario & Kaltschmitt, Martin, 2016. "Electricity generation potential from biogas produced from organic waste in Mexico," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 384-395.
    15. Bueno, G. & Latasa, I. & Lozano, P.J., 2015. "Comparative LCA of two approaches with different emphasis on energy or material recovery for a municipal solid waste management system in Gipuzkoa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 449-459.
    16. Rajaeifar, Mohammad Ali & Akram, Asadolah & Ghobadian, Barat & Rafiee, Shahin & Heijungs, Reinout & Tabatabaei, Meisam, 2016. "Environmental impact assessment of olive pomace oil biodiesel production and consumption: A comparative lifecycle assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 87-102.
    17. Moreda, Iván López, 2016. "The potential of biogas production in Uruguay," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1580-1591.
    18. Halder, P.K. & Paul, N. & Joardder, M.U.H. & Khan, M.Z.H. & Sarker, M., 2016. "Feasibility analysis of implementing anaerobic digestion as a potential energy source in Bangladesh," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 124-134.
    19. Khoshnevisan, Benyamin & Shafiei, Marzieh & Rajaeifar, Mohammad Ali & Tabatabaei, Meisam, 2016. "Biogas and bioethanol production from pinewood pre-treated with steam explosion and N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO): A comparative life cycle assessment approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 935-950.
    20. Binkley, David & Harsh, Stephen & Wolf, Christopher A. & Safferman, Steven & Kirk, Dana, 2013. "Electricity purchase agreements and distributed energy policies for anaerobic digesters," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 341-352.
    21. Deng, Yanfei & Xu, Jiuping & Liu, Ying & Mancl, Karen, 2014. "Biogas as a sustainable energy source in China: Regional development strategy application and decision making," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 294-303.
    22. Adams, P.W.R. & Mezzullo, W.G. & McManus, M.C., 2015. "Biomass sustainability criteria: Greenhouse gas accounting issues for biogas and biomethane facilities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 95-109.
    23. -, 2015. "Observatorio Demográfico de América Latina y el Caribe 2014: Proyecciones de población = Demographic Observatory of Latin America and the Caribbean 2014: Population projections," Observatorio Demográfico de América Latina / Demographic Observatory of Latin America 39228, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    24. Asadullah, Mohammad, 2014. "Barriers of commercial power generation using biomass gasification gas: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 201-215.
    25. Mazandarani, A. & Mahlia, T.M.I. & Chong, W.T. & Moghavvemi, M., 2011. "Fuel consumption and emission prediction by Iranian power plants until 2025," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 1575-1592, April.
    26. Baran, Burhan & Mamis, Mehmet Salih & Alagoz, Baris Baykant, 2016. "Utilization of energy from waste potential in Turkey as distributed secondary renewable energy source," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 493-500.
    27. Scarlat, N. & Motola, V. & Dallemand, J.F. & Monforti-Ferrario, F. & Mofor, Linus, 2015. "Evaluation of energy potential of Municipal Solid Waste from African urban areas," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1269-1286.
    28. Rajaeifar, Mohammad Ali & Tabatabaei, Meisam & Ghanavati, Hossein & Khoshnevisan, Benyamin & Rafiee, Shahin, 2015. "Comparative life cycle assessment of different municipal solid waste management scenarios in Iran," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 886-898.
    29. Al-Hamamre, Zayed & Saidan, Motasem & Hararah, Muhanned & Rawajfeh, Khaled & Alkhasawneh, Hussam E. & Al-Shannag, Mohammad, 2017. "Wastes and biomass materials as sustainable-renewable energy resources for Jordan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 295-314.
    30. Wang, Yuan & Lai, Nan & Zuo, Jian & Chen, Guanyi & Du, Huibin, 2016. "Characteristics and trends of research on waste-to-energy incineration: A bibliometric analysis, 1999–2015," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 95-104.
    31. Mao, Chunlan & Feng, Yongzhong & Wang, Xiaojiao & Ren, Guangxin, 2015. "Review on research achievements of biogas from anaerobic digestion," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 540-555.
    32. Jin, Yiying & Chen, Ting & Chen, Xin & Yu, Zhixin, 2015. "Life-cycle assessment of energy consumption and environmental impact of an integrated food waste-based biogas plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 227-236.
    33. Tozlu, Alperen & Özahi, Emrah & Abuşoğlu, Ayşegül, 2016. "Waste to energy technologies for municipal solid waste management in Gaziantep," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 809-815.
    34. Kumaran, Palanisamy & Hephzibah, David & Sivasankari, Ranganathan & Saifuddin, Normanbay & Shamsuddin, Abd. Halim, 2016. "A review on industrial scale anaerobic digestion systems deployment in Malaysia: Opportunities and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 929-940.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rajaeifar, Mohammad Ali & Sadeghzadeh Hemayati, Saeed & Tabatabaei, Meisam & Aghbashlo, Mortaza & Mahmoudi, Seyed Bagher, 2019. "A review on beet sugar industry with a focus on implementation of waste-to-energy strategy for power supply," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 423-442.
    2. Esfilar, Reza & Bagheri, Mehdi & Golestani, Behrooz, 2021. "Technoeconomic feasibility review of hybrid waste to energy system in the campus: A case study for the University of Victoria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    3. Ogunjuyigbe, A.S.O. & Ayodele, T.R. & Alao, M.A., 2017. "Electricity generation from municipal solid waste in some selected cities of Nigeria: An assessment of feasibility, potential and technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 149-162.
    4. Kůdela, Jakub & Smejkalová, Veronika & Šomplák, Radovan & Nevrlý, Vlastimír, 2020. "Legislation-induced planning of waste processing infrastructure: A case study of the Czech Republic," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    5. Kasinath, Archana & Fudala-Ksiazek, Sylwia & Szopinska, Malgorzata & Bylinski, Hubert & Artichowicz, Wojciech & Remiszewska-Skwarek, Anna & Luczkiewicz, Aneta, 2021. "Biomass in biogas production: Pretreatment and codigestion," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    6. Dehkordi, Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Noorbakhsh & Jahromi, Ahmad Reza Taghipour & Ferdowsi, Ali & Shumal, Mohammad & Dehnavi, Ali, 2020. "Investigation of biogas production potential from mechanical separated municipal solid waste as an approach for developing countries (case study: Isfahan-Iran)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    7. Dastjerdi, B. & Strezov, V. & Kumar, R. & Behnia, M., 2019. "An evaluation of the potential of waste to energy technologies for residual solid waste in New South Wales, Australia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    8. Shane, Agabu & Gheewala, Shabbir H. & Phiri, Seveliano, 2017. "Rural domestic biogas supply model for Zambia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 683-697.
    9. Kumar, Aman & Singh, Ekta & Mishra, Rahul & Lo, Shang Lien & Kumar, Sunil, 2023. "Global trends in municipal solid waste treatment technologies through the lens of sustainable energy development opportunity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    10. Zheng, Lei & Cheng, Shikun & Han, Yanzhao & Wang, Min & Xiang, Yue & Guo, Jiali & Cai, Di & Mang, Heinz-Peter & Dong, Taili & Li, Zifu & Yan, Zhengxu & Men, Yu, 2020. "Bio-natural gas industry in China: Current status and development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    11. Ouda, O.K.M. & Raza, S.A. & Nizami, A.S. & Rehan, M. & Al-Waked, R. & Korres, N.E., 2016. "Waste to energy potential: A case study of Saudi Arabia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 328-340.
    12. Santiago Alzate-Arias & Álvaro Jaramillo-Duque & Fernando Villada & Bonie Restrepo-Cuestas, 2018. "Assessment of Government Incentives for Energy from Waste in Colombia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, April.
    13. Chen, Wei & Geng, Yong & Hong, Jinglan & Kua, Harn Wei & Xu, Changqing & Yu, Nan, 2017. "Life cycle assessment of antibiotic mycelial residues management in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 830-838.
    14. Ramos, Ana & Rouboa, Abel, 2022. "Life cycle thinking of plasma gasification as a waste-to-energy tool: Review on environmental, economic and social aspects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    15. Şenol, Halil & Ali Dereli̇, Mehmet & Özbilgin, Ferdi, 2021. "Investigation of the distribution of bovine manure-based biomethane potential using an artificial neural network in Turkey to 2030," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    16. Almaktar, Mohamed & Shaaban, Mohamed, 2021. "Prospects of renewable energy as a non-rivalry energy alternative in Libya," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    17. Susanne Theuerl & Christiane Herrmann & Monika Heiermann & Philipp Grundmann & Niels Landwehr & Ulrich Kreidenweis & Annette Prochnow, 2019. "The Future Agricultural Biogas Plant in Germany: A Vision," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-32, January.
    18. Ma, Chaonan & Liu, Jianyong & Ye, Min & Zou, Lianpei & Qian, Guangren & Li, Yu-You, 2018. "Towards utmost bioenergy conversion efficiency of food waste: Pretreatment, co-digestion, and reactor type," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 700-709.
    19. Siddiqi, Afreen & Haraguchi, Masahiko & Narayanamurti, Venkatesh, 2020. "Urban waste to energy recovery assessment simulations for developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    20. Lora Grando, Rafaela & de Souza Antune, Adelaide Maria & da Fonseca, Fabiana Valéria & Sánchez, Antoni & Barrena, Raquel & Font, Xavier, 2017. "Technology overview of biogas production in anaerobic digestion plants: A European evaluation of research and development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 44-53.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:79:y:2017:i:c:p:414-439. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.