Abstract: Human societies generate large volumes of waste. These include agricultural wastes and industrial wastes, but the most important type of waste in modern societies is municipal solid waste. Some of this waste can be recycled but there is usually a residue. In the past, this has been buried but today it is often burned to generate electricity, as well as to reduce its volume. Power generation is typically carried out by using the heat to raise steam and drive a steam turbine. Other methods include gasification and pyrolysis of waste. The earliest recorded waste to energy plant was built in Sweden in 1904. In Europe, it has been common to combine waste combustion with district heating. More recently, waste has become a valuable resource. There was around 13 GW of waste to energy capacity across the globe in 2014.
Publication Year: 2017
Publication Date: 2017-11-29
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 2
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot