Thermo-Chemical Waste Treatment Technologies Facilitate Sustainable Fuel Generation

Thermo-Chemical Waste Treatment Technologies Facilitate Sustainable Fuel Generation

Integrating TCWT Solutions into Industrial Processes Produces Specialty Chemicals and Fuels While Significantly Reducing Carbon Emissions

Globally, exponential population growth, rampant consumerism, and economic development are the major drivers of waste generation. The World Bank estimates that waste generation is going to increase from about 2.3 billion tons per year by 2023 to 3.4 billion tons per year by 2050. Out of the 2.3 billion tons of waste produced in 2023, as much as 33 % will be mismanaged through open dumping in landfills, water bodies, and oceans, which will negatively impact both human health and the environment.

Current waste-to-energy (WtE) facilities based predominantly on incineration are subjected to major scrutiny of their non-adherence to regulatory waste emission guidelines, as they release a significant volume of toxic gases, such as dioxins, furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and other particulate matter, into the atmosphere. Globally, governments are shutting down several incineration facilities that do not comply with emission directives. This leaves a lot of scope for the installation of efficient waste valorization technologies to ensure sustainability and circularity while complying to stringent guidelines.

It is therefore necessary to use of thermo-chemical waste treatment (TCWT) technologies such as plasma gasification, gasification, pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction, and torrefaction for efficient conversion of waste into secondary raw materials while ensuring compliance with industry emission directives.

Additionally, emissions-intensive industries are integrating post-treatment technologies based on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, gas fermentation, and Haber Bosch processes with TCWT technologies to produce specialty chemicals and other low-carbon fuels to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The study covers the following topics:

Overview of TCWT technologies, current trends, and factors driving the development and adoption of them
Major stakeholders in the TCWT technology landscape
Techno-economic analysis of TCWT technologies
Patent landscape and growth opportunities enabling TCWT technologies