Assessment of waste-to-energy conversion technologies for biomass waste under different shared socioeconomic pathways
Jingyu Zhu, Xunchang Fei, Ke Yin
Abstract
Energy conversion technologies from biomass waste, including biochemical-based and thermochemical-based pathways, are at different stages of maturity and face techno-economic challenges while competing with traditional and non-biomass renewable. In this study, we evaluate the performance of potential biomass waste-based energy conversion technologies for four biomass waste categories: crop residue (CR), forest residue (FR), animal manure (AM), and municipal food waste (MFW). We assess energy output, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and utilization cost of energy conversion technologies under shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) coupled with representative concentration pathways (RCPs). Our findings indicate that thermochemical pathways yield higher energy output (0.1–15.8 MJ/kg) but incur greater GHG emissions (0.003–1.2 kg CO 2 /MJ) and cost (0.01–0.1 USD/MJ) compared to biochemical pathways. Under the optimistic SSP1-2.6 scenario, biomass waste-based energy (42.9 EJ) could reduce fossil fuel dependency by ∼30 % by 2050, but with 11.8 Gt GHG emissions. It cost 1985.1 billion USD, which is several times higher than that of non-biomass renewable, emphasizing the need for cost-reduction innovations. High cost and scalability challenges of biomass waste-based energy underscore the need for innovation and policy support to enhance competitiveness.