I have enjoyed getting to learn more about waste to energy. As the population continues to grow we tend to see more waste being discarded throughout our earth. Being able to convert all this waste to energy is very beneficial. Throughout the semester I have talked about why waste to energy is important, who are main contributors to this method, if waste to energy is harmful to the environment, and the biggest companies that turn the waste to energy. I also mentioned Disney World and how all the wasted and thrown away food is turned into energy to power the park.
I see more waste to energy facilities opening up in the future in America. Although, America hasn't completely been won over by this proposal I think that by year 2030 all of our non-hazardous will be used to created energy and power the homes of many Americans. Being able to use the waste as an energy resource will help solve our problems on foreign goods and lower our reliance on coal.
There will always be waste on this earth as long as humans are living on it. Therefore, this means that waste will forever be a reliable source of fuel.
We need to start creating more waste to energy plants across the U.S so that we can cut down that amount of land needed and generate energy at the same time.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle are all words we think about when talking about saving the world. I think that we should add RECOVER to those R's, after maximizing Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling, waste-to-energy facilities RECOVER energy from the remaining trash and generate substantial amounts of electricity.
IN THE END IT'S CLEAR TO SEE WHY WASTE TO ENERGY IS A GREAT OPTION:
- They reduce the amount of organic material going to landfills, which in turn reduces methane emissions from landfills because methane is a potent greenhouse gas
- They recover ferrous and non-ferrous metals from the waste stream for recycling, which is more energy efficient than mining virgin materials for the production of new metals
- The electricity generated utilizing trash offsets electricity generated from fossil fuels
- Only 10% by volume of the incoming waste is ultimately transported to an out-of-county landfill in the form of non-hazardous ash residue, which significantly reduces vehicle emissions.
AMERICA NEEDS TO FOLLOW IN SWEDEN'S FOOTSTEPS!
Only 1 percent of Sweden's waste ends up in a landfill. Half of it is recycled and 49 percent of it is burned in waste to energy facilities! I am glad to see that Sweden is doing such a great job at taking advantage of this amazing invention. Although, everything we do has some sort of negative impact on the environment whether it be, CO2 or greenhouse gases, waste to energy plants are headed in the right direction! Hopefully in the future we will be able to establish better ways to make waste to energy even safer for the environment.
VIDEO TO WATCH:
http://youtu.be/D3WWjmDICn8
