Title: Feasibility of waste gasification technologies in the USA

Authors: Omar Romero-Hernandez; Sergio Romero

Addresses: Hult International Business School, University of California, Berkeley, 1 Education St. Cambridge, MA 02141, USA ' Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Rio Hondo No. 1, Mexico City, 01080, Mexico

Abstract: Governments across the globe have adopted different programs to deal with increasing amounts of municipal solid waste (MSW) including recycling, waste prevention programs, and waste-to-energy (WTE) technologies, such as gasification. Deciding on a specific WTE technology involves an understanding of a complex blend of factors including location, haul distance, regulations, capital costs, feedstock availability, tipping fees, taxes, electricity price, and incentives which do not necessarily denote a linear behaviour. Therefore, the business feasibility of gasification technologies is still unclear. This paper includes the development of a model that combines the aforementioned factors in the context of a potential gasification plant in the USA. The model successfully concluded that location is the most sensitive factor for most of the cases. Authors include a geographical analysis which may be used, in combination with the model, to decide on regional energy options and new business opportunities.

Keywords: gasification; municipal solid waste; MSW; electricity production; economic analysis; USA.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2020.107409

International Journal of Technology Management, 2020 Vol.82 No.1, pp.47 - 65

Accepted: 23 Dec 2019
Published online: 26 May 2020 *

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