Food-energy-water-waste nexus systems optimization for New York State under the COVID-19 pandemic to alleviate health and environmental concerns

Ning Zhao and Fengqi You

Applied Energy, 2021, vol. 282, issue PA, No S030626192031583X

Abstract: This article addresses food-energy-water-waste nexus optimization to alleviate the public health and environmental concerns from increasing food waste generation during the COVID-19 pandemic using waste-to-energy technologies. Food waste increase has become a severe global problem during the pandemic. It could alleviate health and environmental concerns by converting the food waste into electricity and heat through food-energy-water-waste nexus systems using waste-to-energy facilities, such as anaerobic digesters and combined heat and power units in wastewater treatment plants. To design efficient nexus systems, a multi-period multi-objective optimization model is proposed, while considering various impacts of the pandemic. A case study for New York State is presented. The optimized systems show a potential of reducing the food waste disposal amounts by 38%. The Pareto-optimal solutions illustrate a clear trade-off between the objectives. The minimum total cost is $27.1 million; the optimal unit processing profit is $11.9 per ton processed food waste. Spatial analyses reveal a clear correlation between facility selections and their processing capacities. Electricity price and biogas yield are the most important factors for the economic objectives, based on sensitivity analysis.

Keywords: COVID-19; Waste-to-energy; Nexus optimization; Food waste; Anaerobic digestion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:282:y:2021:i:pa:s030626192031583x

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116181

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