Converting Waste into Electricity

Generating electricity from waste is one of the most environmentally friendly decisions you can make. In short it is known as energy-from-waste (EfW) or waste-to-energy (WtE). Just a some of the advantages that can be gained from this kind of energy production are: an efficient way to dispose of waste produces clean, renewable electricity encourages businesses to recycle industrial wastes Most renewable electricity production processes involve incinerating agricultural, biodegradable, chemical, industrial waste materials from all sorts of sources. Waste fuels are incinerated create steam from water, which provides a means of turning turbines to generate electricity. The Process Electricity from waste production follows the same main steps in a municipal power plant. These are listed below. 1. Collecting and delivering waste to the plant Different types of waste are gathered from various waste collection facilities and are sorted into sections. This prepares them to be transported to the appropriate waste treatment facility. 2. Combustion/burning The waste is stored in specially build combustion chambers, where they are burned efficiently. The combustion chambers are designed to sustain the burning process over a long time, whilst withstanding extremely high temperatures. 3. Steam production The high levels of heat emitted from the combustion chamber are used to boil water in the plant. 4. Electricity Generation Once the water is boiling, the steam produced will be used to rotate energy turbines to generate a sustainable and cost-effective source of electricity to the local grid. Other waste to electricity processes In addition to the use of direct combustion chambers, a number of technologies have been developed to produce energy without direct incineration of waste. These methods could possibilities produce more electrical power than the latter. One example is plasma gasification process, where waste is treated to produce a rich mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gases, which are used to power electricity turbines. Disadvantages and Concerns At the moment, the conversion processes of wastes into energy come with concerns from different sectors of society. One of these is related to the amount of emissions released from incinerators. If waste conversion technology and equipment isnt high quality and isnt used correctly, there is a possibility of heavy metals, fine particles, and gaseous acid being emitted into the atmosphere. To prevent this from happening, modern waste-to-energy facilities use lime-scrubbers and precipitators. Continuous refinement of this technology means that nowadays, emissions from these factories have been declared by some as even cleaner than those coming from domestic fireplaces.

Waste to Electricity trends All over the world, people are realising how crucial it is to utilise renewable energy. Japan and China are two developed countries that leads in producing electricity from wastes. In Japan, they have a total

capacity of about 40 million tons for waste-to-energy plants. China, on the other hand, has about 50 waste to electricity plants, according to statistics from Columbia University. As well as large-scale power plants, the technology is being used at a smaller, localized scale. This trend is evident in many European countries who are keen to reduce their carbon footprint, and is expected to spread into the developing world. As part of our journey towards sustainable development, there is increasing interest in turning to the production of clean, renewable electricity from waste.