Economic Feasibility and Environmental Analysis of a Municipal Food Waste Collection and Anaerobic Digestion Program Model
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University of Toledo / OhioLINK
2013
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1383843493 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-toledo13838434932021-08-03T06:20:21Z Economic Feasibility and Environmental Analysis of a Municipal Food Waste Collection and Anaerobic Digestion Program Model Dellinger, Adam Ross Alternative Energy Engineering Environmental Economics Environmental Engineering Industrial Engineering Anaerobic digestion food waste economic analysis greenhouse gas emissions compressed natural gas waste management alternative energy biomass The purpose of this research was to investigate the feasibility of a food waste collection and anaerobic treatment program in Toledo, Ohio, USA given both current and theoretical levels of relevant parameters. In the United States, more than 30 million tons of food is disposed of in landfills every year. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a technology that can transform organic matter into clean energy and useful products while diverting waste from landfills. While AD has been proven on a large scale in Europe, it has not seen similar levels of development in the United States. This study evaluates the present economic prospects for the curbside collection and AD of food waste in Toledo, Ohio. It then explores the effects of modifying the values of single and multiple variables that currently act as barriers to the technology in the United States. Changes in Tipping Fees, Feed-in Tariffs, capital grants, production of compressed natural gas (CNG), and volatile solids destruction efficiency were explored. In all cases, two potential scenarios are assessed: collection of both household and commercial waste, and collection of only commercial waste. Included in the work is a novel method for estimating initial and annual waste collection costs as well as a brief assessment of projected environmental benefits. Findings indicated that current economic prospects for a food waste collection and AD program are poor, with anticipated losses of $15 million and $8 million for combined and commercial-only collection programs, respectively, over a 15-year project life. In all cases, the higher-cost, higher-volume combined collection program was found to be superior to the low-cost, low-volume scheme due to economies of scale. The variables that had the most effect on expected profitability were local Tipping Fees, Feed- in Tariffs, and higher utilization of biogas to produce CNG. Additionally, an AD program was found to result in expected reductions of between 3,400 to 14,700 tons CO2/year. Among the many possible scenarios estimated to be profitable was a 50,000 tpy facility utilizing 25% of its biogas for CNG, earning tipping revenues of $35/ton, and receiving government support in the form of a $2 million capital grant and a $0.06/kWh Feed-in Tariff. The methods and results of this study could be used to discover many such scenarios depending on local conditions. 2013 English text University of Toledo / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1383843493 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1383843493 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
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NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Alternative Energy Engineering Environmental Economics Environmental Engineering Industrial Engineering Anaerobic digestion food waste economic analysis greenhouse gas emissions compressed natural gas waste management alternative energy biomass |
| spellingShingle |
Alternative Energy Engineering Environmental Economics Environmental Engineering Industrial Engineering Anaerobic digestion food waste economic analysis greenhouse gas emissions compressed natural gas waste management alternative energy biomass Dellinger, Adam Ross Economic Feasibility and Environmental Analysis of a Municipal Food Waste Collection and Anaerobic Digestion Program Model |
| author |
Dellinger, Adam Ross |
| author_facet |
Dellinger, Adam Ross |
| author_sort |
Dellinger, Adam Ross |
| title |
Economic Feasibility and Environmental Analysis of a Municipal Food Waste Collection and Anaerobic Digestion Program Model |
| title_short |
Economic Feasibility and Environmental Analysis of a Municipal Food Waste Collection and Anaerobic Digestion Program Model |
| title_full |
Economic Feasibility and Environmental Analysis of a Municipal Food Waste Collection and Anaerobic Digestion Program Model |
| title_fullStr |
Economic Feasibility and Environmental Analysis of a Municipal Food Waste Collection and Anaerobic Digestion Program Model |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Economic Feasibility and Environmental Analysis of a Municipal Food Waste Collection and Anaerobic Digestion Program Model |
| title_sort |
economic feasibility and environmental analysis of a municipal food waste collection and anaerobic digestion program model |
| publisher |
University of Toledo / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1383843493 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT dellingeradamross economicfeasibilityandenvironmentalanalysisofamunicipalfoodwastecollectionandanaerobicdigestionprogrammodel |
| _version_ |
1719435089542119424 |