Does Waste-to-Energy Work?  A Simple Question with a Complicated Answer

This article on waste-to-energy is a reminder that there are areas of technology that seem to attract people who have no compunction about exaggerating their claims, among which is WTE.  Of course, this is easily understood, as this discipline has so many moving parts.  Unlike, e.g., solar, wind, hydro and geothermal, WTE is not a black and white subject.

For instance, where you insert a piece of steel into water moving at a certain speed and you convert a certain number of watts of kinetic power to electricity, this is easily measured.  In the case of WTE, however, we have questions we need to ask:

• For exactly what feedstocks is it optimized?

• How long does it run before it gums up and breaks down?

• How efficient is it, i.e., how much of the energy from the feedstock goes back into continuing the process, or is lost in other exchanges?

• What about the byproducts? How noxious (or valuable) are they?

The article linked above covers the Chinese acquiring a German WTE concern.  While I wish everyone involved good luck, I urge caution and lots of due diligence.