IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/endesu/v27y2025i9d10.1007_s10668-022-02486-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Thermoeconomic and environmental feasibility of waste-to-energy combined heat and power units: a case study from Western Iran

Author

Listed:
  • Ramezan Taheri

    (University of Tehran)

  • Touraj Nasrabadi

    (University of Tehran)

  • Hossein Yousefi

    (University of Tehran)

Abstract

This study investigated the thermoeconomic and environmental feasibility of a waste-to-energy combined heat and power (WtE-CHP) unit for Ilam Industrial Zone (IIZ), western Iran. To this end, the energy demand and supply of the industrial zone in the period 2016–2041 was modeled using LEAP (Low Emissions Analysis Platform) software. Then, in different scenarios, energy demand and supply trends were modeled for nine energy generation technologies. According to the baseline scenario, the demand for energy carriers in the industrial area, which was 338.2 thousand BOE in 2016, would gradually increase and reach 761.1 thousand BOE in 2041. The total environmental emissions are expected to rise from USD 1.667 million in the base year to more than USD 3.760 million in the end year. The waste generated in 2041 would be sufficient for a design capacity of 15.5 MW to provide 50% of the energy requirement of CHPsystems in the IIZ. However, a small CHP gas plant with a 3–5 MW capacity should be built nearby. The cost of reducing carbon fluctuated, with the best case occurring at 8 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity, in which case the net present value was USD − 53.9 million, and the cost of reducing carbon was USD − 17.6 per ton. The findings showed that WtE-CHP units while having a thermoeconomic justification for the IIZ would be very useful in reducing the environmental damage caused by waste disposal in the city.

Suggested Citation

  • Ramezan Taheri & Touraj Nasrabadi & Hossein Yousefi, 2025. "Thermoeconomic and environmental feasibility of waste-to-energy combined heat and power units: a case study from Western Iran," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(9), pages 22665-22690, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:9:d:10.1007_s10668-022-02486-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-022-02486-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-022-02486-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10668-022-02486-1?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

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:9:d:10.1007_s10668-022-02486-1. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.