Evaluation of energy potential of Municipal Solid Waste from African urban areas

N. Scarlat, V. Motola, J.F. Dallemand, F. Monforti-Ferrario and Linus Mofor

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2015, vol. 50, issue C, 1269-1286

Abstract: Energy is a critical issue for Africa, where large number of people do not have access to energy. Energy recovery from waste can play a role in minimising the impact of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) on the environment with the additional benefit of providing a local source of energy. This study was carried out to assess, at the African level, the role which waste could play in providing energy to citizens and provides an estimate of the total potential of energy from waste incineration and from landfill gas (LFG). The results show an energy potential of all waste generated in Africa of 1125PJ in 2012 and 2199PJ in 2025. Nevertheless, if energy recovery through LFG is considered, about 155PJ could be recovered in 2012 and 363PJ in 2025 if waste actually collected, or projected to be collected, is considered. The electricity generation could reach 62.5TWh in 2012 and 122.2TWh in 2025, in case of full waste collection, compared with electricity consumption in Africa of 661.5TWh in 2010. If waste actually collected is considered, these estimates decrease respectively to 34.1TWh in 2012 and 83.8TWh in 2025. Apart from continental estimates, the study provides detailed information at the country level and a vision of the spatial distribution of energy from waste based on the city population in major African cities.

Keywords: Municipal Solid Waste; Waste management; Landfills; Landfill gas; Energy recovery; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (44)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115005389
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:rensus:v:50:y:2015:i:c:p:1269-1286

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 600126/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.05.067

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews is currently edited by L. Kazmerski

More articles in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().