Talk:Waste-to-energy

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Why seperate articles for outdated and contemporary incineration technology??

In which part of the world do you percieve any difference between the terms incineration and waste-to-energy? I am working professionally with such plants, and I feel that it would be the same to have two articles:

automobile - A slow noisy and rather polluting vehicle with a single stroke engine and a low comfort level. Still popular in some low income countries.

car - Similar use as an automobile, but much more sophisticated. The highly efficient (and often computer controlled) engine of a car provides superior emission control and fuel efficiency compared to automobiles.

Why do we have these separate articles for "outdated" and "contemporary" incinerator types???

--Claush66 15:59, 1 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The reason to have two separate articles is that opponents of waste-to-energy in the US try to conjure up images of old, polluting incinerators. Incinerators in the US did not recover energy and had little, if any, emissions controls. Often all they did was reduce the volume somewhat. Having grown up only a mile from one of these town incinerators, I know full well how bad they were. Often the "ash" was still smoldering when they dumped it in the adjacent town dump, which son caught fire from the hot ashes.

Rather than an automobile and a car, I'd say a more appropriate analogy would be a car and a hybrid car.

EnergyUSA 01:56, 31 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hi,

I am aware of the reputation inherited from the old incinerators. Since my posting above, I have been educated that the proper way to use the two terms is like this:

Incineration (with energy recovery) is one of several waste-to-energy technologies.

I have since edited both articles to reflect this. The incineration article now generally covers todays incinerators with a brief mention of the monsters built in some countries until some centuries ago. I hope you can agree to this change.

--Claus Hindsgaul 06:10, 31 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

When I originally came to wikipedia there were two parallel articles on waste to energy and incineration both covering the same topic. In the waste industry the terms waste to energy and incineration are both used interchangably. Waste to energy when referred to in this sense is a form of linguistic detoxification, in essence trying to distinguish between modern incineration facilities and the older polluting ones. Literally however and most accurately waste to energy refers to a great deal more technologies than incineration alone. The waste to energy section was therefore restructured to represent this fact and to avoid people pushing incineration to hijack the term waste-to-energy or energy-from-waste on thier own. Personally I am neither against nor in favour of this technology as part of a wider waste treatment matrix, as long as it is cost effective and effective on the point of carbon emissions.--Alex 07:57, 31 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I just realised you changed your signature! I will re-read both articles and check them for you. One element I'm not so comfortable with is the references to the USA in the opening paragraphs of the waste to energy article. I think it should be focused more internationally and not just US.--Alex 08:33, 31 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Determination of the Biomass Fraction

This section is POV because it implies that biomass is somehow different from other waste. It needs to be fixed or deleted. TeH nOmInAtOr (talk) 23:21, 22 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please refer to the section preceeding your POV-tag for an explanation of excactly why biomass is considered different from other waste. I assume that you missed to read this, and I have deleted your tag. --Claus Hindsgaul (talk) 06:37, 23 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Why delete pinellas county from the list of waste to energy plants list?

And why delete the link to the diagrams of how they work. Pinellas county really has this and it is as valid as the other plants, right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.34.14.51 (talk) 02:43, 5 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the addition! However, Wikipedia isn't a collection of links, so we try to keep them to a minimum. -Falcon8765 (talk) 02:46, 5 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

physics

Hi, may i know how to produce electricity from garbages? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.124.89.97 (talk) 13:25, 26 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

incinerate waste --> produce heat --> produce steam --> run steam through an electric generator. Rather similar principle as a coal power plant.--83.77.138.189 (talk) 05:16, 16 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

energy is transformed not created / combustion is just the first step of the transformation of the energy contained in the waste into electricity

In the Intro you state that: Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of creating energy in the form of electricity or heat from the incineration of waste source.

It would be more correct to say that: Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of transforming the energy contained in a waste source into electricity or heat.

Similarly, you state that: Most WtE processes produce electricity directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.

It would be more correct to say that: Most WtE processes combust the waste source directly, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels. Different methods are then applied to transform the released energy into electricity. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.203.109.254 (talk) 12:41, 15 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Refuge de Sarenne

Besides large plants, domestic waste-to-energy incinerators also exist. For example, the refuge de Sarenne has a domestic waste-to-energy plant. It is made by combining a wood-fired gasification boiler with a Stirling motor.^[1]^[2] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.182.91.212 (talk) 10:59, 13 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Efficiency

In this article is stated that ...and may even exceed 100% when equipped with flue gas condensation.[8]

I call bullshit on this, as by fundamental laws of physics, there can be no efficiency not even equal to 100%, let alone more than that. Are we saying we are able to produce energy our of nothing? Plus, the reference given is an advertising presentation made by the company who produces such plants, I don't think it's a reliable source.

[1] Refuge de Sarenne waste incinerator hooked up to Stirling motor

[2] Refuge de Sarenne using wood-fired gasification boiler

[1]

[2]