A nexus approach for sustainable urban energy-water-waste systems planning and operation
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Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Energy, water and waste systems analyzed at a nexus level is key to move towards more sustainable cities. In this paper, the “resilience.io” platform is developed and applied to emphasize on waste-to-energy pathways, along with the water and energy sectors, aiming to develop waste treatment capacity and energy recovery with the lowest economic and environmental cost. Three categories of waste including wastewater (WW), municipal solid waste (MSW) and agriculture waste are tested as the feedstock for thermochemical treatment via incineration, gasification or pyrolysis for combined heat and power generation, or biological treatment such as anaerobic digestion (AD) and aerobic treatment. A case study is presented for Ghana in Sub-Saharan Africa, considering a combination of waste treatment technologies and infrastructure, depending on local characteristics for supply and demand. The results indicate that the biogas generated from waste treatment turns out to be a promising renewable energy source in the analyzed region, while more distributed energy resources can be integrated. A series of scenarios including the business-as-usual, base case, natural constrained, policy interventions and environmental and climate change impacts demonstrate how simulation with optimization models can provide new insights in the design of sustainable value chains, with particular emphasis on whole-system analysis and integration.
Date Issued
2018-03-06
Date Acceptance
2018-01-31
Citation
Environmental Science and Technology, 2018, 52 (5), pp.3257-3266
ISSN
0013-936X
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
3257
End Page
3266
Journal / Book Title
Environmental Science and Technology
Volume
52
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society
Sponsor
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
United Nations Office for Project Services
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Identifier
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b04659
Grant Number
EP/N034740/1
CA/FCA/TEST/2014
EP/N034740/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Engineering, Environmental
Environmental Sciences
Engineering
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ANAEROBIC-DIGESTION
FOOD NEXUS
GHANA
BIODEGRADABILITY
OPTIMIZATION
BIOMASS
TRENDS
CITIES
Cities
Ghana
Incineration
Refuse Disposal
Solid Waste
Water
Water
Cities
Refuse Disposal
Incineration
Ghana
Solid Waste
Environmental Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2018-01-31