2019-Annual-Report

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24 Kleinman Center for Energy Policy 2018–2019 Annual ReportFEATURED POLICY DIGESTPOWERING OURFUTURE WITH TRASHAUTHORRichard Ling, VIPER Student, Schoolof Engineering and Applied Scienceand School of Arts and SciencesPOWERINGOUR FUTUREWITH TRASHMarch 2019Richard LingA worker at the Sierra Energy WTE gasification plant gives digest author Richard Ling (right) a tour of the facility.Our vision includes educating thenext generation of energy leaders.In practice, this doesn’t just takeplace in the classroom, but includesexposing students to the art andcraft of applied research. RichardLing’s waste-to-energy policy digestwas made possible with supportfrom our student grants program.Read the full digest:kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policydigests/powering-our-future-trashWaste-to-energy technology, which uses trash to produce viable energy,has the potential to address two of the most urgent needs of this century—waste management and energy demand.A GROWING NEEDEvery year, our world produces around 2.1 billion tons of waste, which ultimately emits over7.7 billion tons of greenhouse gases (GHGs) over a 20-year breakdown period. Currenttactics to combat GHG emissions from waste include recycling, composting, sourcereduction, and waste-to-energy (WTE) technology.To date, roughly 2,200 WTE plants are active worldwide, which constitute roughly 300million tons of disposal capacity. The U.S., by comparison, currently holds around 86 WTEfacilities, which account for just 0.25% of the nation’s total generation capacity.A UNIQUELY U.S. APPROACHThe United States is one of the few major countries that delegates renewable energytargets to the states, which engenders inconsistencies in nationwide adoption. Therein,state governments can create Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), which mandate localutilities to achieve a certain proportion of renewable power generation. As of the end of2018, only 29 states and Washington, D.C. have adopted RPS, and the amount of capitalallocated to each renewable practice (e.g. solar, wind, biomass, hydro, WTE) is, in largepart, determined by the “Tiers” of the RPS.In order to make substantive progress towards renewable energy as a nation, morestates ought to adopt RPS, or the U.S. should consider a federal mandate that setsmeasurable renewable energy targets for every state. In any case, these standards are
kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu 25crucial for widespread renewable energy adoption. In their 2018U.S. Renewable Portfolio Standards Status report, the LawrenceBerkeley National Laboratory concluded that, “Roughly half ofall growth in U.S. renewable electricity (RE) generation andcapacity since 2000 is associated with state RPS requirements.”DISADVANTAGED THROUGH POLICYTier 1 sources are given more renewable energy credit (REC)rates than Tier 2 sources. Tier 1 renewable sources include solar,wind, biomass, anaerobic digestion, geothermal, tidal power,renewable fuel cells, small hydro, and poultry-litter incinerationfacilities. Tier 2 sources include waste coal, distributed generationsystems, municipal solid waste (MSW), and large-scale hydro.Under the RPS, municipal solid waste is not considered to bea fully renewable resource, as the non-biogenic components(e.g. glass, plastics, metals, etc.) are technically non-renewable.However, the EPA defines renewable energy as, “fuel sourcesthat restore themselves over a short period of time and donot diminish.”Not only does MSW replenish periodically, but it also experiencesexponential growth: the World Energy Council projects that globalwaste generation will double to over 6 million tons per day by 2025and may reach over 11 million tons per day by 2100. Thus, by theEPA’s own definition, MSW should be a fully renewable resource.DESIGNING BETTER POLICYA dangerous contradiction is thereby observed: the EPA’s strictclassification of “renewable” MSW (i.e. the biogenic components)leads to greater landfill emissions. This should never occur in therealm of energy policy, as the main goal of renewable technologiesis to foster a sustainable future for humanity.The only way for the U.S. to become a global leader in wastemanagement, besides source reduction, is to pursue a completeoverhaul of our current model: we must enable WTE technologiesto replace landfills and increase recycling and composting effortsthroughout our nation.To do so, the U.S. must enact favorable policies that designateWTE as a Tier 1 renewable resource, define MSW as a completelyrenewable feedstock, and provide favorable subsidies to new andexisting WTE facilities.“It’s been an absolutepleasure writing for theKleinman Center. I can’tthank you all enough foryour support throughoutthe process.”—RICHARD LINGCOMPONENTS OF MSW BY PRODUCT TYPE IN WEIGHT (U.S.)300KTHOUSANDS OF TONS200K100K01960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010◼ Durable Goods ◼ Nondurable Goods ◼ Containers & Packaging ◼ Food ◼ Yard Trimmings ◼ Other Wastes
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2019-Annual-Report

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