Seems like the majority of our energy sources are not renewable. if they are, the rate at which we use the source is much higher compared to the rate at which it renews it self. so why not use a source is we already have a lot of and is constantly being produced every day? there it lots of wastes being produced by us every day, there is waste from agriculture, from animals, from industry, from municipal solid waste, from sewage, and other human activities. and there are lots of ways to use these sources and convert it into useful energy. one way is through thermochemical, that is where we take waste and burn it either through incineration, pyrolysis, or gasification. either way we take the heat from this conversion and use it to power a turbine to produce electricity. another way is through biochemical conversion, that is where we take waste and either use the anaerobic processes to produce biogas to get electricity. or we can use fermentation to produce ethanol. a final conversion process is physico-chemical conversion, that is where we improve physical and chemical properties of solid waste to produce something that can be used for energy. for example high-energy fuel pellets that can be used in steam generators.
so using waste as an energy source will have to main benefits, one is that we will have an environmentally friendly waste management and disposal system and as well as produce clean electric power. already this process has reduced environmental impacts of municipal solid waste management which include emissions of greenhouse gases. considering all the benefits we can get from using waste as an energy source, what is stopping us from using it more?
source: http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/waste-renewable-energy-source/
It is true that through this energy source we will benefit by getting rid of these wastes in landfills and other dumps and pollution emitted from the wastes will be decreased. However, wouldn't there be pollution from burning the waste and transferring the waste? Also, will this create efficient energy compared to the conventional energy that we use today? I bet if people want to use this as a conventional energy, they will find a way to make this more energy efficient and beneficial in many more ways.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I believe that the reason why we are sticking to the conventional energies we currently use today is because too many things might be sacrificed while developing a new renewable resource.
And most of all, I believe people today are not willing to change their way of life.
Although paper manufacturers may use their waste as an energy source, perhaps not all wastes make cost effective energy. Maybe this isn't being more widely done because the cost of turning our waste into useful energy is too high. I believe that energy companies look for the cheapest way and not necessarily the cleanest or most resourceful way.
ReplyDeleteUsing our energy could potentially solve several problems, but how will these processes affect the environment? Are these processes relatively harmless compared to creating electricity from coal or other fossil fuels? Would we be able to create enough energy from our wastes? It may seem like a good idea, but I'm not completely convinced that using all wastes as an energy source would be cost effective, efficiet, or environmentally friendly.
Changing energy sources is a tricky business. You don't really know how something is going to work until it is used on a large scale. It makes it especially hard when our entire infrastructure is built around our current energy sources. While there may be an upside to a renewable energy source, like waste, it is also important to understand that our society can't just hop on another train. It would take years to make the conversion and by that time there is a good chance a cost-effective, alternative energy choice may have been discovered.
ReplyDeleteThat being said I do agree that there are some wastes that we can immeadiately integrate as fuel sources. I am thinking along the lines of waste heat given off at power plants or waste from nuclear plants. These seem like they would be safer bets for waste energy because we already have the technology in place to harness waste heat and nuclear waste is certainly has a higher energy density then a majority of waste. So in part waste energy conversion is important.
I was actually looking at some very interesting stuff with regard to pyrolysis just the other day:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mindfully.org/Energy/2003/Anything-Into-Oil1may03.htm
The concept it utilizes isn't new, and neither is the technology required to do so, however they 'claim' to have achieved 85% energy efficiency (oil Btus produced vs Btus to run the process). That is by far the most informative article I've found on the topic, and with such great claims - and being 7 years old - how has it not revolutionized our way of life?? Well everything sounds great when you're listening to the scientists who developed it. The problem with most biomass-energy processes, which is what this aspect of waste energy utilization is, is scalability. However, I do think it would be a very interesting study to do a system level analysis of the waste streams we produce, which can be minimized, which can be utilized, and approach the problem from a cyclical perspective, which I haven't seen much of...
Great discussion guys - keep it up!