Co-benefits of waste to energy

Abstract

Rapidly increasing urbanization and economic development in India has impacted the quantity of waste generation. Presently, only 68% of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in the country is collected of which 28% is treated by the municipal authorities. In the case of wastewater about 30% of the wastewater generated from major cities of India is treated. Untreated waste leads to an adverse impact on public health and also creates various environmental problems including pollution of air, water and land resources. There have been efforts by the respective governments for initiating action on converting waste to energy but these initiatives are fragmented and have not been integrated into national policy frameworks. Further, waste to energy involves higher costs and a relatively higher degree of expertise amongst the governments about integration of various technologies. The main aim of the paper is to document and analyse waste to energy initiatives both in solid waste and waste water so as to identify and disseminate innovative urban practices. Among the various initiatives taken for ‘waste to energy’ in India, three cases are selected, namely: biogas-fertilizer plants (BGFPs) for generation, purification/enrichment, bottling and piped distribution of biogas in Talwade, Nasik district of Maharashtra; organic MSW-based decentralized biomethanation plant at Pune city of Maharashtra and methane recovery and power generation from sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Surat city of Gujarat. This paper made an attempt to analyse and document the innovative urban practices in India on ‘waste to energy’ that can be replicated at other cities and thus offers an implementable solution to the problem faced by many Indian cities.