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WASTE TO ENERGY

The United States can generate up to 3.2 EJ of energy annually from waste

Nature Energy volume 5, pages 18–19 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Biomass such as agricultural and forestry residues, animal manure and municipal solid wastes can be a replenishable and widely available source of energy. Harnessing this resource can have significant energy and environmental benefits.

Messages for Policy

  • Maximizing either net energy or emissions reduction from waste-to-energy generation would lead to better utilization of wastes and residues relative to simply maximizing the quantity of renewable energy.

  • National-scale mandates on specific types of bioenergy or biofuels could lead to inefficient use of biomass resources.

  • Complementing renewable fuel targets with GHG taxes or life cycle emissions-based performance standards would lead to better outcomes in terms of clean energy production and emissions reduction.

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Fig. 1: Total renewable energy production and net energy gain across each of the three policy scenarios disaggregated by waste type.

References

Further Reading

  • Rajagopal, D. & Zilberman, D. Environmental, economic and policy aspects of biofuels. Found. Trends Microecon. 4, 353–468 (2008). Provides a comprehensive review of the environmental, economic and policy literature on biofuels at the peak of the biofuel renaissance of the 2000s.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, J. E. & Block, E. Land-use and alternative bioenergy pathways for waste biomass. Environ. Sci. Technol. 44, 8665–8669 (2010). Analyzes the alternative uses of biomass residues with respect to environmental and energy security outcomes and highlights the role of electricity inputs and avoided emissions in determining the best use of biomass.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tonini, D., Hamelin, L., Alvarado-Morales, M. & Astrup, T. F. GHG emission factors for bioelectricity, biomethane, and bioethanol quantified for 24 biomass substrates with consequential life-cycle assessment. Bioresour. Technol. 208, 123–133 (2016). Estimates greenhouse gas emission factors for bioethanol, biomethane and bioelectricity derived from different biomass resources.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Acknowledgements

This study would not have been possible without financial support from the UCLA Grand Challenges—Sustainable LA programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Deepak Rajagopal

  2. Department of Urban Planning, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Bo Liu

Authors
  1. Deepak Rajagopal
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  2. Bo Liu
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Correspondence to Deepak Rajagopal.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Rajagopal, D., Liu, B. The United States can generate up to 3.2 EJ of energy annually from waste. Nat Energy 5, 18–19 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0532-x

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