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Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Gasification and Landfilling for Disposal of Municipal Solid Wastes

Author

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  • Angelika Sita Ouedraogo

    (Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Oklahoma State University, 111 Agriculture Hall, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA)

  • Robert Scott Frazier

    (Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Oklahoma State University, 111 Agriculture Hall, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA)

  • Ajay Kumar

    (Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Oklahoma State University, 111 Agriculture Hall, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA)

Abstract

Disposal of municipal solid wastes (MSW) remains a challenge to minimize its impacts on the environment and human health. Landfilling, currently the most common method used for MSW disposal, occupies land space and leads to soil and air emissions. Gasification, an alternative MSW disposal method, can convert waste to energy, but can also lead to soil and air emissions and is a more extensive operation. In this study, life cycle assessments (LCA) of the two disposal methods (landfilling without energy recovery and gasification) were compared to understand impacts on environment and health. The LCA was conducted following the ISO 14040 standards with one ton of MSW as the functional unit. The life cycle inventory was obtained from published journals, technical reports, LandGEM, HELP and GREET database. The impact assessment was done using TRACI 2.1 and categorized into eight groups. The LCA revealed that landfilling is a higher contributor in global warming, acidification, smog formation, eutrophication, ecotoxicity and human health cancer and non-cancer categories. The negative environmental impacts of MSW landfilling can be primarily attributed to the fate of leachate loss and landfill gas, while those of the MSW gasification can be attributed to the disposal of its solid residues.

Suggested Citation

  • Angelika Sita Ouedraogo & Robert Scott Frazier & Ajay Kumar, 2021. "Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Gasification and Landfilling for Disposal of Municipal Solid Wastes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:21:p:7032-:d:665720
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Indrawan, Natarianto & Thapa, Sunil & Bhoi, Prakashbhai R. & Huhnke, Raymond L. & Kumar, Ajay, 2018. "Electricity power generation from co-gasification of municipal solid wastes and biomass: Generation and emission performance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 764-775.
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    Cited by:

    1. Angelika Sita Ouedraogo & Ajay Kumar & Ning Wang, 2023. "Landfill Waste Segregation Using Transfer and Ensemble Machine Learning: A Convolutional Neural Network Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-14, August.
    2. Jānis Krūmiņš & Māris Kļaviņš, 2023. "Integrated Circulating Fluidized Bed Gasification System for Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management: Energy Production and Heat Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-23, July.
    3. Oluwaseun Nubi & Stephen Morse & Richard J. Murphy, 2022. "Electricity Generation from Municipal Solid Waste in Nigeria: A Prospective LCA Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-25, July.
    4. Anna Mazzi & Michela Sciarrone & Roberto Raga, 2022. "Environmental Performance of Semi-Aerobic Landfill by Means of Life Cycle Assessment Modeling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-17, August.
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    6. Kwon, Yuree & An, Jinjoo, 2024. "Comparative life cycle assessment of landfill gas utilization in South Korea with parametric uncertainties," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).

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