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LONDON, United Kingdom — [Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on BusinessGreen.com, and is reprinted with permission.]
The UK could meet half its renewable energy target for 2020 through the use of energy from waste (EfW), landfill gas, anaerobic digestion and second generation biofuels, according to a major new report from Cranfield University.
Biomass-based energy has traditionally played second fiddle in the UK to investment in wind energy, but the new report, entitled "Renewable Energy, Landfill Gas and EfW: Now, Next and Future" {PDF] argues that EfW systems alone could theoretically contribute around 11 Mtoe of biogas by 2020, contributing to half of the UK's 15 per cent renewable energy target.
However, report author Kofi Apea Adu-Gyamfi warned that the rapid expansion of waste and biomass-based power would require "considerable" financial support and political backing from government.
The report further warns that the success of EfW depends on far-sighted policies that ensure that investment in feedstock availability matches the emergence of new EfW and biomass power plants in order to prevent feedstock shortages.
Similarly, the study argues that the government must oversee a gradual shift from landfill gas to other form of EfW technology, as waste policies are expected to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste being sent to landfill sites over the next 10 years.
The report also identifies a number of areas for expansion in the use of waste-based power, including the wider use of biomethane as a road transport fuel and the deployment of small-scale EfW deployment at community level.
"These two options are easily implementable and could provide substantial savings in greenhouse gas emissions," it says.
The report recommends a number of new policies to support the roll out of new technologies, including the introduction of subsidies for biomethane-powered cars, which it expects to cost about £2,500 more than equivalent models.
In addition, it proposes that discounted energy tariffs and free domestic hot water for people living near waste-to-energy plants in order to help alleviate public opposition to developments that are frequently branded as incinerators.
except that...waste to energy is not renewable!
Turning mostly non renewable resources into energy does not renewable energy make!
Most of the environmental impacts of our products come from the mining and primary processing of resources. Burning those resources instead of recycling them is a waste of energy, not a net creator of it. Incineration captures only a small part of the energy embedded in products. Recycling saves much more energy than burning creates.
Organic materials-- food and yard debris-- should be separated at the source and composted through technologies such as low tech windrows or more advanced anaerobic digestion. The latter can create energy, and both techniques create a product that can be put back into the soil to add nutrients and increase its ability to capture carbon.
Glass, paper, plastics, metals-- can be recycled.
We should put more energy into reducing our waste, holding producers responsible for their products at end of life (extended producer responsibility), and supporting and creating markets for recyclables.
Calling waste to energy renewable is putting lipstick on a pig.
In theory you may have a
In theory you may have a point - in reality people are wasteful and their waste is underused as a fuel that is continually renewed. Assuming we improve the RRR's there is still too much waste going to waste. So it's time to use it for useful heat and electricity generation rather than non-renewable fossil fuels.
I agree the waste originators/producers need to be responsible so, speak to your elected officials, make a noise, be heard etc etc. We're making progress, albeit slow.