| Abstract |
The UK generates around 330 million tonnes of waste per annum, of which around 90 million tonnes is energy bearing. Direct emissions from the waste management sector in the UK accounted for 3.2% of the UK?s total estimated GHG emissions in 2009, equivalent to 17.9Mt CO2e. Government legislation seeks to incentivise the diversion of waste from landfill through the existing landfill tax and landfill diversion targets. In parallel the UK is committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 80% by 2050 and supplying 15% of its energy demands from renewable sources by 2020. These drivers lead to a requirement for technology solutions which enable wastes to be used as a cost effective, low carbon and indigenous energy resource for the UK. The Energy from Waste FRP was commissioned to address these requirements and identify potential opportunities for a large scale demonstration project inthis area.
Key findings were:-- Applying forecast values for low to high waste availability and conversion efficiencies, the amount of useful energy from waste (both heat and power) which may be generated ranges from 5 to 230TWhrs.
- Projected achievable electrical generation is approximately 25TWhrs per year
- This equates to between 5% and 8% of the UK?s electricity demand
- For each of the technology and waste arisings scenarios, the deployment of advanced energy from waste technologies is projected to contribute to a net decrease in UK CO2e emissions of between 5 and 10 MTCO2e/year at midpoint technology conversion and waste arisings scenarios
- Greater emissions reductions are associated with high total conversion efficiency technologies, both to electricity and from utilising heat.
A key step to fulfilling the opportunities described is technology development in a number of key areas, which are summarised in this report. |
