Municipal solid waste: problem or opportunity

Journal Article · Tue Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1977 · EPRI J.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5351374

The positive aspects of utilizing municipal solid waste (MSW) to recover materials, generate energy, and improve the environment tend to obscure the fact that MSW energy is not yet cost-effective. MSW processing must separate the organic fraction and convert it to a solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel at costs that are competitive with other fuels. Most customers are not willing to pay the additional cost of plant modifications and maintenance as well as a higher price for refuse-derived fuel (RDF). Other cost factors are derived from the differences in transportng wastes, securing landfill areas, and whether the operation of the facility is public or private. The utilities have been reluctant to use RDF because they cannot risk having a less efficient or reliable fuel lower the quality of their service. When stringent conditions are met, however, a number of utilities have agreed to purchase RDF as a community service. Utility involvement can help develop the technical information needed to make waste processing and conversion more competitive. Selected MSW projects are summarized and the experiences are told of two projects, only one of which has been successful. (DCK)

• OSTI ID: 5351374
• Journal Information: EPRI J.; (United States), Journal Name: EPRI J.; (United States) Vol. 9; ISSN EPRJD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
090400 -- Solid Waste & Wood Fuels-- (-1989)
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
200103 -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Waste-Fueled Systems
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290400 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Energy Resources
299003* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Unconventional Sources & Power Generation-- Other-- (-1989)
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320604 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Municipalities & Community Systems-- Municipal Waste Management-- (1980-)
COMPETITION
COST
ECONOMICS
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY SUPPLIES
FUELS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS RECOVERY
MUNICIPAL WASTES
ORGANIC WASTES
POWER GENERATION
PROCESSING
PUBLIC UTILITIES
REFUSE DERIVED FUELS
SOLID WASTES
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES