International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

63.3.1.1 Energy Use at Incineration Facilities
The energy usage of the plant depends upon the scale of plant, and the nature of the
flue gas cleaning system. It also depends upon the presence or otherwise of:
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� Mechanical pre-treatment systems;
� Incineration air preheating;
� Equipment for re-heating of flue gas;
� Waste water evaporation plant;
� Flue gas treatment systems with high pressure drops (which demand more
powerful fans); and
� Changes in the energy content of input waste (necessitating use of fuel to
maintain minimum combustion temperatures).
ERM’s analysis suggests 3.9 kWh electricity is consumed per tonne of waste treated
at an incinerator, with process diesel use indicated as 1.2 kg of per tonne of
waste. 1232 They arrived at these figures using Environment Agency data collected for
the development of the waste model WRATE. However, they note in their report that:
These process data were used as a substitute for all thermal treatment
processes. In reality the ancillary requirements of each will differ, but within
the context of the research the more important parameter relates to the
energy conversion efficiency of the process.
ERM’s energy consumption figures appear to be very low in comparison to values
given in the wider literature. The Draft BREF note for Incineration gives figures of: 1233
� Electricity use
62 kWh per tonne – 257 kWh per tonne, average 142 kWh per tonne;
� Heat demand
72 GJ thermal energy per tonne – 3,366 GJ thermal energy per tonne, average
433 GJ thermal energy per tonne.
These, in turn, are far higher than figures suggested in, for example, reports by
Erichsen and Hauschild (46 kWh electricity per tonne) though this figure reflects only
the operation of gas cleaning equipment. 1234 The Flemish Institute for Technological
1232 ERM (2006) Carbon Balances and Energy Impacts of the Management of UK Wastes, Defra R&D
Project WRT 237)
1233 A BREF note is a note prepared by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission to give
guidance to Member States as to what is implied by ‘Best Available Techniques’ under the Directive on
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control. European Commission (2005) Integrated Pollution
Prevention and Control, Draft Reference Document on the Best Available Techniques for Waste
Incineration, Final Draft, May 2005.
1234 L. Hanne, L. Erichsen and M. Hauschild (2000) Technical Data for Waste Incineration -
Background for Modeling of Product Specific Emissions in a Life-cycle Assessment Context, Elaborated
as part of the EUREKA project EUROENVIRON 1296: LCAGAPS, sponsored by the Danish Agency for
Industry and Trade, April 2000.
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes