Scenarios for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from municipal solid waste incineration plants: Effect of CO2 emission factor of electricity

Abstract

GHG emissions from incineration and fuel use of municipal solid waste account for a large proportion of GHG emissions from municipal solid waste management and are an important emission reduction target. In this study, GHG emissions from municipal solid waste incineration plant were estimated up to 2045 for Kusatsu City, where our university’s BKC campus is located: several countermeasure scenarios were assumed, and their effects were examined. On top of this, a scenario for reduced CO2 emission factor of electricity through the introduction of renewable energy was examined.The results showed that in 2045, the waste reduction scenario, the biomass plastics introduction scenario and the methane fermentation facility introduction scenario had reductions of 15%, 31% and 42% respectively compared to the BaU scenario. As the reduced CO2 emission factor of electricity diminishes the CO2 reduction effect of waste power generation, further measures such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) are considered necessary to reduce net GHG emissions from waste incineration facilities to below zero.