Benefits of Waste-to-Energy 2015 Northwest Regional SWANA Symposium

1

Converting Waste Into Clean Renewable Power Helps Solve Three Challenges

• Job Creation Typically creates $1 Billion of economic activity

• Domestic Energy Renewable energy available in every region of U.S

• Climate Change One ton of trash reduces one ton of CO2 eq.

Metal: 50 lbs Power: 500 – 750 kWh

Ash: 10% of original volume

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW): 1 ton

Waste To Energy is a specially designed energy generation facility that uses household waste as fuel and helps solve some of society’s big challenges

2

Solid Waste Management Hierarchy The European Union and the U.S. EPA have both concluded that following the waste management hierarchy generally maximizes energy savings and minimizes greenhouse gas emissions.

3

Modern Energy from Waste

4

A Global Perspective • EfW is used extensively worldwide.

Over 1,000 facilities; 180 million tons per year (TPY)

5

The United States has Fallen Behind...

6

Energy: Waste is a Valuable Resource

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Recycle EfW LF-Vent LF-Flare LFGTE

mm

btu/

Mixe

d To

n of

Rec

ycla

bles

Source: U.S. EPA Waste Reduction Model (WARM) Version 9 (October 2008)

7

The GHG Value of EfW

“... MSW combustors actually reduce the amount of GHGs in the atmosphere compared to landfilling. The savings are estimated to be about 1.0 ton of GHGs saved per ton of MSW combusted.”

U.S. EPA, Energy Recovery Webpage , http://www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/municipal/wte/airem.htm#7 8

Electricity Sources: GHG Comparison

-0.4

-0.2

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

Coal Oil NaturalGas

Solar (PV) Nuclear Wind EfW

Electricity Source

ton

CO

2e /

MW

h

Sources: WARM v10, U.S. EPA (2006), Hondo, Hiroki, 2005, Life cycle GHG emission analysis of power generation systems: Japanese case

EfW reduces GHG emissions when including avoided CH4 from landfills

9

EEA Briefing, “Better management of municipal waste will reduce greenhouse gas emissions”

EU: Translating Sustainable Waste Management into GHG Success

10

Recognition of WTE as a Mitigation Strategy

• European Environment Agency: “As recycling and incineration with energy recovery are increasingly used, net greenhouse gas emissions from municipal waste management are expected to drop considerably by 2020”

• IPCC: WTE recognized as a “key GHG mitigation technology”

• Rio UN Conference: “We therefore commit to further reduce, reuse and recycle waste (3Rs), and to increase energy recovery from waste”

• Davos World Economic Forum: WTE included in the list of 10 low-carbon energy technologies

Pricing Externalities: GHGs EfW Generates Carbon Offset Credits • Clean Development Mechanism • Voluntary Market

– Lee County EfW Facility Expansion – Hillsborough County EfW Facility

Expansion – H-Power Facility Expansion

(validated 2014)

12

New Focus on Methane Reduction Scientific community calls for separate regulation

“...short- and medium-lived sources (black carbon, tropospheric ozone, and methane) must be regulated separately and dynamically”

Jackson, S., Parallel Pursuit of Near-Term and Long-Term Climate Mitigation Science (2009) 326: 526-527

“The case for developing parallel policy initiatives for near- and short-term climate mitigation is compelling.”

Weaver, A., Toward the Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol Science (2011) 332: 795-796

Climate and Clean Air Coalition – Announced by U.S. Sec. of State Clinton in 2012 – Focus on black carbon, HFCs, and methane

White House Methane Strategy – March 2014 Focus on Landfills, Natural Gas & Oil Production & Distribution, Coal Mines, and Agriculture 13

Source Year GWP Time Horizon (years)

IPCC 2nd Assessment 1995 21 100

IPCC 3rd Assessment 2001 23 100

IPCC 4th Assessment 2007 25 100

Shindell et al. 2009 34 100

IPCC 5th Assessment 2013 28 / 34 100

IPCC 5th Assessment 2013 84 / 86 20

Many still refer to the 17-year old GWP of 21

Increasing Trend in Methane GWP

14

2013 IPCC Report: Methane responsible for 42% of net climate forcing

58% of CO2’s contribution

42% of total net RF

2013 Report CH4 Radiative Forcing (RF)

from Methane = 0.97 W/m2

15

Landfills are the 3rd largest global source of CH4

Source: Global Methane Initiative https://www.globalmethane.org/documents/analysis_fs_en.pdf 16

Putting the Benefits into Perspective Background • 2004 Drs. Pacala and Socolow (Princeton)

introduced the stabilization triangle • 7 gigaton of carbon per year (7 GtC/yr)

reduction needed by 2054 versus BAU • Seven wedges together would stabilize

world-wide greenhouse gas emissions at today’s emission rate

Global Results – the “Waste Wedge” • 1 billion metric tonnes of carbon.

Equivalent to: Closing 1000 large coal-fired power plants Building 2 million 1MW wind machines Doubling our nuclear power plant capacity

S. Pacala et al., Science 305, 968 -972 (2004)

17

What if the U.S. did it that way?

GHG Savings 264 million tons CO2e ≈ closing 63 coal-fired power plants

Energy savings 2.2 Quadrillion Btu primary energy ≈14% of our imported oil (2013)

Economic Benefits $130B in direct economic activity 350,000 new permanent jobs

* Source: Columbia University, 2014

Business as Usual*

Sustainability Scenario

Recycling 28.9% 65% EfW 7.6% 25% Landfill 63.5% 10%

18

“The performance of the MACT retrofits have been outstanding.”

19

When both landfill gas combustion and landfill fires are considered, U.S. landfills contributed 76 times more dioxin (i-TEQ) than EfW facilities in 2000. Since 2000, EfW dioxin (i-TEQ) emissions have dropped by 80%.

Sources: 2012 MWC data from Thrasher & Themelis (2013) A Global Perspective on Dioxin and Furan Emissions from Waste-to-Energy Facilities, North American Waste-to-Energy Conference 21. All other data from U.S. EPA (2006) An Inventory of Sources and Environmental Releases of Dioxin-Like Compounds in the U.S. for Years 1987, 1995, and 2000.

U.S. Dioxin Emissions Inventory

Leading to emissions well below permits

21

Marion Air Emissions: Well Below Permit

Pollutant Units

Marion Avg.

2011-2013 Federal Limits

OR DEQ Permit

% Below Permit

Lead µg / dscm 4.5 400 200 97.7%

Cadmium µg / dscm 0.78 35 20 96.1%

Dioxin ng / dscm 0.77 30 15 94.8%

Mercury µg / dscm 3.98 50 50 92.0%

SO2 ppm 6.2 29 29 78.5%

PM mg / dscm 6.1 25 25 75.6%

HCl ppm 8.3 29 29 71.5%

NOx ppm 177 185 205 13.6%

Source: Kaplan,P.O., J. DeCarolis, S. Thorneloe, Is It Better To Burn or Bury Waste for Clean Electricity Generation?, Environ. Sci. Technol., 2009, 43 (6), 1711-1717

EPA Study: Lifecycle Energy Emissions

CO2--EfW better than landfills, coal, oil, and on par with natural gas.

SO2--EfW better than landfills, coal and oil.

NOx--EfW better than landfills & coal. On par with oil & natural gas. PM--EfW better than landfills, coal and oil.

EfW is far below landfill gas to energy (LFGTE) in every category: CO2, SOx, NOx, CO, PM

23

...And we continue to improve our performance

% Reduction, 2007 - 2013

NOx (ppm) 6%

PM (mg / dscm) 39%

HCl (ppm) 45%

Cd (µg / dscm) 50%

Pb (µg / dscm) 51%

Dioxin (ng / dscm) 57%

Hg (µg / dscm) 68%

24

Land: EfW has a Small Footprint Energy-from-Waste uses less land per megawatt than other renewable energy sources.

• EfW facilities require an average of 0.7 acres/MW

• Landfill gas to energy 27 acres/MW

• Solar requires 8 acres/MW

• Wind requires 18 acres/MW

25

WTE is Reliable Baseload Power

• WTE is baseload renewable energy, with higher capacity factors than other renewables or traditional fossil generation

• WTE is located close to load centers, reducing transmission losses

U.S. EIA / EPA Capacity Factors

WTE* 64.6% Coal 63.8% Natural Gas combined cycle 42.2% Hydroelectric 39.8% Other Renewables 33.9% * Combined Heat & Power (CHP) Plants excluded Sources: U.S. EIA 2009 Electric Power Annual U.S. EPA eGRID 2012 v1.0

26

EfW: Steady Growth & Compatible With Recycling • In the EU, recycling and

Energy Recovery have grown together because of policies that minimize landfills.

• The European Environment Agency says “there is no evidence to support” the argument that “incineration of waste with energy recovery hinders the development of recycling.”

• In the U.S., many Covanta communities recycle well over 50%.

27

The 8 EU countries with the highest recycling rates all use EfW (combustion) extensively for what remains

28

Source: Eurostat news release, 48/2014 – 25 March 2014

Thank you!

29