2017

Garbage to energy

Marshall Ashley
SDUSD
1/1/2017
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A
merica generates around After throwing the trash in the

250 million tons of trash in a garbage, the trash trucks come and take it.

year. The average weight of Afterwards the waste is dumped into a large

pit from the garbage truck. A crane uses its

a blue whale is about 100 tons, meaning
claw to grab the garbage and dumps it in a
America throws away about 2,540,000
combustion chamber. The trash is then
blue whales worth of trash a year.
burned in which releases heat. That heat
(Truman, 2015). This
then turns water into
is more trash than the
steam in a boiler. The
U.S. even knows what steam turns the blades
to do with. When you of a turbine generator,

throw your trash way, this is what produces

where does it go? the electricity. They put

What happens to it? an air pollution system

helps to remove
How do we destroy it Figure 1 The process of Garbage to Energy shown above.
(Norton, 2016)
pollutants from the
in an eco-friendly
combustion gas, then the ash is collected
way?
from the boiler and the air pollution control
Waste-to-Energy Process system.

Waste-to-energy is a process
History of Garbage to
taking garbage and producing energy at
Energy
waste-to-energy plants and at landfills in
The history of energy starts off in
the United States. These plants burn
2000 B.C. when the Chinese began
garbage and use the heat to make steam
burning coal for heat which created
in order to generate energy.
energy. We later started to burn
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municipal solid waste (MSW) in the trash while creating energy for your

1880s, which wasnt a very popular everyday lives. We process 95,023 tons

process. In 1974 landfills started to get of waste each day, capable of generating

more and more popular, with more trash 20,800 gigawatt hours of electricity a

starting to pile up. As of 2016, In the year, (Renee Cho, 2016). This shows

U.S., there are currently 77 waste-to- that the process is getting bigger, and

energy facilities in 22 states, (Renee with it being eco-friendly it is well liked

Cho, 2016). and wanted throughout the U.S.

Waste-to-Energy Pros

Garbage to energy does so many

good things, such as producing energy in

a more eco-friendly, reducing landfill use,

and provides a cheap source of power. Figure 2 "The first mechanical Energy-from-Waste Plants in
Japan was built by Hitachi Zosen in 1965. Hitachi Zosen has
Most of the power plants burn coal, crude built a total of 443 plants all over the world, of which 231
are also designed to generate power." (Zosen, 2017)

oil or other fossil fuels which provide the

Waste-to-Energy Cons
cheap source. This using such cheap
Along with everything there is a
resources makes it easier to come
bad side to this process, although there
across. (Robertson, 2015)
arent many, there are definitely some
Garbage to energy is an
problems. Its said that these energy
eco-friendly process that gets rid of
plants that burn trash are air pollutants.
garbage by turning it into energy. With
These need expensive, high-tech air-
this process you are able to get rid of
pollution controls to try and avoid
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polluting the air. However, when lives. With trash becoming a bigger

creating the pollution controls it makes problem, we are running out of room.

the machine way more expensive. While landfills are not space efficient and

When trash is dumped into landfills, it bad for the environment, why continue to

causes public health risks and harms use them? When using a process such

the environment. There is no solid as turning garbage into energy, you are

proof that burning trash wont do the getting rid of trash in an eco-friendly way,

same. while turning it into something we can

use.
Landfills Affect Everyone

Landfills are harmful to the

environment and to your everyday lives.

They are used to dispose of trash while

burying it underground which is said to

cause groundwater pollution. According Figure 3, Approximately 55% of all trash thrown away is put
into one of the 3,500 landfills in the United States. (Duke.edu,
2011)
to Wegreen-USA, The major issue

caused with landfill leachates is the

leakage of a large number of toxins into

freshwater waterways, which ultimately

end up in our homes as drinking water or

water for everyday use. Wegreen-USA

clearly uncovers the dangerous sides to

landfills with them harming our everyday

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March 06, 2017, from

References http://www.wastedive.com/news/t
Energy-from-Waste Plants - Hitachi
he-pros-and-cons-of-burning-
Zosen World No. 1 Strategy -.
waste-to-generate-
(n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2017,
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from
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SaveOnEnergy.com. Retrieved
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saving-energy-help-the-
Analysis. Retrieved March 01,
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https://www.eia.gov/todayinenerg
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y/det ail.php?id=25732
Americans Make Every Day.

Retrieved March 01, 2017, from

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March 01, 2017, from
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http://www.wegreen-
every-day/
usa.org/landfill-problems.html

Waste-to-Energy (Municipal Solid

Karidis, A. (2015, November 18). The
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https://www.eia.gov/energyexplai

ned/index.cfm/data/index.cfm?pa

ge=biomass_waste_to_energy