Waste-to-Energy and Climate Change
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has stated that the nation's waste-to-energy plants produce electricity with "less environmental impact than almost any other source of electricity."
Today, many scientist believe emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are leading to unusually high warming of the atmosphere - global warming. The theory of global warming has gained international awareness and scrutiny, leading to a worldwide, concerted effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
When a ton of trash is delivered to a waste-to-energy plant, several things happen: the energy content of the waste is retrieved, metals are recovered and recycled and electricity is generated. A U.S. Environmental Protect Agency (EPA)-sponsored lifecycle analysis evaluated a variety of waste management options and their associated environmental and energy impacts, and found that waste-to-energy does the most to reduce greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere.
EPA's Municipal Solid Waste Decision Support Tool has demonstrated that a modern waste-to-energy plant provides for the avoidance of greenhouse gases through two different operations:
- For every megawatt of electricity generated through the combustion of solid waste, a megawatt of electricity from conventional, e.g., coal or oil-fired, power plants is avoided, creating a new savings of emissions of greenhouse gases, i.e., carbon dioxide.
- A modern municipal waste-to-energy facility separates ferrous and/or nonferrous metals for recycling. This is more energy efficient than mining virgin materials for the production of new metals such as steel. As a result, there is a significant energy savings and additional avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition to the analysis using EPA's Decision Support Tool, a detailed, project analysis of a facility's contribution to solving the threat of global warming has been completed for a 1500-ton-per-day waste-to-energy facility in Saugus, Massachusetts. Researchers, using information regarding alternative disposal at a specific landfill, waste-to-energy plant emissions, trash composition and other plant-specific data, analyzed the information using the Decision Support Tool. The study determined about 270,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions are avoided annually because of this one waste-to-energy plant's operations. As you can see, waste-to-energy plants are tremendously valuable contributors in the fight against global warming.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors, through the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, has embraced the contribution of waste-to-energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Signed by 400 mayors, the Agreement supports a seven percent reduction in greenhouse gases from 1990 levels by 2012 and recognizes waste-to-energy technology as a means to achieve that goal.
