We Envision an Environmentally Friendly Tomorrow that is Economically inviting, Socially Healthful, and where Waste To Clean-Renewable Energy Technology has Solved the Whole World Waste Management Problem. Consumption and the diversity/increase of needs have induced the necessity to utilize our resources in the best way possible while finding a viable solution for waste management.
Powering Energy from Collectivity Waste as a solution to the waste problem.
The tremendous increase in the quantum and diversity of waste materials generated by human activities has focused the spotlight on waste management options. Waste generation rates are affected by standards of living, degree of industrialization, and population density. Generally, the greater the economic prosperity and the higher percentage of the urban population, the greater the amount of waste produced. A good example is the oil-rich GCC nations which are counted among the world's most prolific per capita waste generators.
There is, no doubt, an obvious need to reduce, reuse and recycle waste but recovery of energy from waste is also gaining ground as a vital method for managing waste.
Wastes can be transformed into clean and efficient energy and fuel by a variety of technologies, ranging from the conventional combustion process to state-of-the-art plasma gasification technology. Besides recovery of energy, such technologies lead to a substantial reduction in the overall waste quantities requiring final disposal.
Waste-to-energy projects provide major business opportunities, environmental benefits, and energy security.
Feedstock for waste-to-energy plants can be obtained from a wide array of sources including municipal wastes, crop residues, and agro-industrial wastes.
At least 950 million tons of solid waste are collected each year in the world with the vast majority disposed of in open fields and dumpsites. The major energy resource in municipal solid waste is made up of food residuals, paper, fruits, vegetables, plastics, etc which make up as much as 75 – 80 percent of the total Municipal World Waste collected.
Municipal wastes can be converted into energy by thermochemical or biological technologies. At landfill sites, the gas produced by the natural decomposition of MWW (called landfill gas) can be collected, scrubbed, and cleaned before feeding into internal combustion engines or gas turbines to generate heat and power. The organic fraction of MWW can be biochemically stabilized in an anaerobic digester to obtain biogas (for heat and power) as well as fertilizer. Sewage sludge is a big nuisance for municipalities and the general public but it is a very good source of biogas, which can be efficiently produced at sewage treatment plants.
Crop residues encompass all agricultural wastes such as bagasse, straw, stem, stalk, leaves, husk, shell, peel, pulp, stubble, etc. Large quantities of crop residues are produced annually in the whole world and are vastly underutilized. Wheat and barley are the major staple crops grown on Planet Earth. In addition, significant quantities of rice, maize, lentils, chickpeas, vegetables, and fruits are produced throughout the rural regions.
Current farming practice is usually to plow these residues back into the soil, or they are burnt, left to decompose, or grazed by cattle. Agricultural residues are characterized by seasonal availability and have characteristics that differ from other solid fuels such as wood, charcoal, and char briquette. Crop wastes can be used to produce biofuels, and biogas as well as heat and power through a wide range of well-proven technologies.
The livestock sector, in particular sheep, goats, and camels, plays an important role in the world economy of respect.
The biogas potential of animal manure can be harnessed both at small- and community scales. In the past, this waste was recovered and sold as a fertilizer or simply spread onto agricultural land, but the introduction of tighter environmental controls on odor and water pollution means that some form of waste management is now required, which provides further incentives for waste-to-energy conversion. The most attractive method of converting these waste materials to useful form is anaerobic digestion.
Wood processing industries primarily include sawmilling, plywood, wood panel, furniture, building component, flooring, particle board, molding, jointing, and craft industries. Wood wastes generally are concentrated at processing factories, e.g. plywood mills and sawmills. In general, processing of 100,000 kg of wood in the furniture industries will lead to a waste generation of almost half (45 %), i.e. 45,000 kg of wood.
Similarly, when processing 1,000 kg of wood in a sawmill, the waste will amount to more than half (52 %), i.e. 520 kg of wood. Wood wastes have high calorific value and can be efficiently converted into energy by thermal technologies like combustion and gasification.
The food processing industry produces a large number of organic residues and by-products that can be used as biomass energy sources. These waste materials are generated from all sectors of the food industry with everything from meat production to confectionery producing waste that can be utilized as an energy source. In recent decades, the fast-growing food and beverage processing industry has remarkably increased in importance in major countries of the world. Since the early 1990s, the increased agricultural output stimulated an increase in fruit and vegetable canning as well as juice, beverage, and oil processing in many countries. Wastewater from food processing industries contains sugars, starches, and other dissolved and solid organic matter. A huge potential exists for these industrial wastes to be biochemically digested to produce biogas, or fermented to produce ethanol, and several commercial examples of waste-to-energy conversion already exist around the world.