“On the other hand they are great fuel sources.”
TRUE. With the newer incinerator technology, it is surprising this is not being implemented more vigorously:
1. Waste-to-energy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste-to-energy
2. Energy Recovery from the Combustion of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
https://www.epa.gov/smm/energy-recovery-combustion-municipal-solid-waste-msw
3. The evolution of waste-to-energy incineration: A review
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364032118302855
EXAMPLES
According to a 2019 UN Environmental Program report, there are 589 WtE plants in Europe and 82 in the United States.
Some examples of Waste incineration WtE plants:
• Essex County Resource Recovery Facility, Newark, New Jersey
• Harrisburg incinerator, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Lee County Solid Waste Resource Recovery Facility, Fort Myers, Florida, USA (1994)[35]
• Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility in Dickerson, Maryland, USA (1995)
• Spittelau (1971), and Flötzersteig (1963), Vienna, Austria (Wien Energie)
• SYSAV waste-to-energy plant in Malmö (2003 and 2008), Sweden
• Algonquin Power, Brampton, Ontario, Canada[36]
• Stoke Incinerator, Stoke-on-Trent, UK (1989)
• Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility, Chester, United States
• Teesside EfW plant near Middlesbrough, North East England (1998)
• Edmonton Incinerator in Greater London, England (1974)
• Burnaby Waste-to-Energy Facility, Metro Vancouver, Canada (1988)
• Timarpur-Okhla Waste to Energy Plant, New Delhi, India
• East Delhi Waste Processing Company Limited, New Delhi, India
• SELCHP, South Bermondsey in Greater London, England (1994)
LIQUID FUEL PRODUCING PLANTS:
A single plant is currently under construction, i.e.
Enerkem Waste to Biofuels and Chemicals Facility, located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada based on the Enerkem-process, fueled by MSW;
1.) “Waste to Biofuels and Chemicals Facility; Turning Garbage Into Fuel”. www.edmonton.ca. City of Edmonton. Archived from the original on 2020-04-11. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
2.) “Facilities & Projects | Clean Technology Around the World”. Enerkem. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
The facility can handle up to 800 tons of municipal solid waste a day and can generate 22 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 13,000 homes. We sell the power to Spokane's Avista Utilities and earn about $5 million in power sales annually.
The process burns the solid waste at 2500 degrees and reduces the solid waste by 90 percent by volume and 70 percent by weight. The resulting ash is biologically inert and is sent to a landfill in Klickitat County for final disposal. The plant is operated by the City of Spokane's Solid Waste Disposal Department. The City took over operations of the plant in November 2014 to reduce costs and ensure ongoing efficient operations. The change in operations coincided with other changes in how the Spokane community's solid waste is managed. Previously, the plant was operated by a private company under contract with the City.
The facility is regulated by Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the Spokane Regional Health District. The Waste to Energy Facility went on line in late 1991, as part of an overall solution to handle the community's solid waste, replacing non-compliant, leaking landfills.
We selected waste to energy over landfilling because of its waste reduction capacity and because Spokane sits on top of the region's sole-source aquifer. The State of Washington joined us in this effort with a $60 million investment, recognizing our facility as a preferred alternative to aging landfills.