USA wildfire-related fatalities per year 1929–2017 by grouping (National Interagency Fire Center 2019).
\r\n\t
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It has shaped plant communities for as long as vegetation and lightning have existed on earth [1, 2]. Wildland fire covers a spectrum from low-severity, localized prescribed fires, to landscape-level high-severity wildfires. Earth is a fire planet whose terrestrial ecosystems have been modified and impacted by fire since the Carboniferous Period, some 300–350 million years before the present time. In the Holocene Epoch of the past 10,000 years, humans have played a major role in fire spread across the planet. In the present Anthropocene Epoch (11,700 years before the present to the current date) of the twenty-first century, climate change, as well as the burgeoning human population, is now poised to increase the ecosystem hazards of wildland, rangeland, and cropland fire [3, 4].
Fire plays an important function in ecosystem processes [5]. Recycling of carbon (C) and nutrients depends on biological decomposition and fire. In regions where decay is constrained either by dry or cold climates or by saturated soil conditions, fire has a dominant role in recycling organic matter and maintaining some vegetation types [3]. In warmer, moist climates, decay plays the dominant role in organic matter recycling [6], except in soils that are predominantly water saturated such as hydric soils. Periodic wildfire has an important function in wildland ecosystems. However, the wildfire trend in the past several decades has raised the risk of short- and long-term damage to natural resources, infrastructure, and human health and safety.
The worldwide threat to humans and natural resources from catastrophic wildfire is greater now than at any other time in human history (Figure 1). Changes brought on by global warming, land management, and population expansion have resulted in much larger, more destructive wildfire events [7]. This has given rise to greater loss of life and property as well as the occurrence of postfire hazards including flooding, erosion, desertification, and environmental degradation [5, 8]. This chapter will look at the physical hazards and effects of wildfire both during and after conflagrations in wildland ecosystems.
High-severity wildfire, Mt. Carmel Fire, Haifa, Israel, 2017 (photo courtesy of Naama Tessler, University of Haifa).
The hazards produced by wildfires affect both the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems. They occur during active fire as well as afterwards. While the destruction produced by combustion is spectacular, the effects after burning has ceased can be subtle or dramatic and often long lasting [3, 5]. Hazards and deleterious effects produced by wildfires during the active combustion phase include vegetation combustion, loss of human and animal life, air quality deterioration, human health deterioration, destruction of personal property, loss of commercial property, and infrastructure damage and destruction. After a wildfire is extinguished, hazards and risks arise from potential flooding, erosion, debris flows, and infrastructure damage. Water supplies and infrastructure, if not damaged during the active fire period, can be at risk during subsequent postfire flood events. Economic losses accrue from declines in tourism, loss of timber and wood fiber resources, and declines in property values. Ecological impacts not assessed by traditional economic valuations include vegetation type conversion, aquatic species loss, decreased water quality, increased stream temperatures, and reduced soil quality. All of these changes are hazards in that they reduce the values and services of ecosystems or threaten human health and safety.
The trend of a growing occurrence of fire around the world brings with it many of the consequences both direct and indirect [9]. This analysis indicated that the future for potential wildfire increases significantly in fire-prone regions of North America, South America, central Asia, southern Europe, southern Africa, and Australia [9]. Fire potential is projected to increase in these regions, from currently low to future moderate potential or from moderate to high potential. The increased fire risk is driven by climate warming in North and South America and Australia, and by the combination of temperature increases and desertification in the other regions. The analysis in Ref. [9] indicates that future increases in wildfire trends will require substantial investment of financial resources and management actions for wildfire disaster prevention and recovery.
In a discussion to the contrary [10], the argument is made that there is evidence of reduced fire worldwide today than centuries ago. Regarding fire severity, limited data are available. They indicate evidence of little change in the western USA and declines in the area of high-severity fire compared to eighteenth and nineteenth century conditions. The authors argue that direct fatalities from fire and economic losses also show no clear trends over the past 30 years [10]. Trends in indirect impacts are insufficiently quantified to be examined in any significant degree.
On the other hand, an analysis of large wildfire trends in the western USA reported a significant increase in fire numbers and area burned [11]. This was particularly true in southern mountain regions with drought. The reported increase of wildland fires in these areas has amounted to 355 km2 yr.−1. An analysis of wildfire in Russia demonstrated an acceleration of wildfire in the twenty-first century as a result of climate change [12]. Trends in wildfire on US Forest Service lands from 1970 to 2002 were examined in a 2005 paper in the Journal of Forestry [13]. Authors reported that the number of large fires has more than doubled over this period and the area burned has increased fourfold. The number of fires and area burned by wildfires in eastern Spain from 1941 to 1994 documented increasing fire activity in southern Europe [14]. They reported that even during this time period the areas and numbers of fires were increasing significantly and were associated with high fire hazard indices.
Wildfire appears to be on the increase globally but not uniformly. Drought and elevated temperatures are major factors contributing to wildfires and the hazards they pose to natural ecosystems and humans. Wildfire sizes and severity thus have the potential to present significant hazards to human health and safety and infrastructure in the twenty-first century [5].
The immediate and most obvious hazard of wildfire is the effect on vegetation. Impacts of wildfire on vegetation vary greatly, not only by vegetation type but also by the severity of the fire. Grassland vegetation in general is thought to be fire resilient, burning often and regrowing quickly after a fire event [15]. Some mixed conifer stands on the other hand have historically burned very infrequently and can take centuries to return to a climax state after a severe wildfire event [3]. The overall trend however is that areas that have been prone to burn in the past are now burning more frequently and at higher severity due to climate change [16]. Areas thought to rarely burn such as tropical systems or be incapable of burning such as permafrost are now undergoing changes that result in more frequent occurrences of fire [17, 18].
The general character of fire that occurs within a particular vegetation type or ecosystem across long successional time frames, typically centuries, is defined as the characteristic fire regime [3]. The fire regime describes the typical fire severity that occurs and the hazard it presents to humans and wildlife. But it is recognized that, on occasion, fires of greater or lesser severity also occur within a vegetation type. For example, a stand-replacing crown fire is usually seen in long fire-return-interval forests (Figure 2). The fire regime concept is useful for comparing the relative role of fire between ecosystems, describing the degree of departure from historical conditions, and assessing the relative hazards of wildfires [19]. The development of fire regime classifications has been based on fire characteristics, effects, and combinations of factors including fire frequency, periodicity, intensity, size, pattern, season, depth of burn, and severity [15, 20]. There are four main fire regimes: understory, stand replacement, mixed, and nonfire. The understory and nonfire regimes are normally not important for understanding fire hazard.
Stand replacement wildfire, 2002 Rodeo-Chediski Fire, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, USA (photo courtesy of Dr. Peter Ffolliott, University of Arizona).
The stand replacement regime fires are lethal to most of the dominant aboveground vegetation. Approximately 80% or more of the aboveground dominant vegetation is either consumed or dies as a result of fire, substantially changing the aboveground vegetative structure and creating substantial hazards. This regime applies to fire-susceptible forests and woodlands, shrublands, and grasslands.
The mixed regime severity of fires varies between nonlethal understory and lethal stand replacement fires with the variation occurring in space or time. First, spatial variability occurs when fire severity varies, producing a spectrum from understory burning to stand replacement within an individual fire. This results from small-scale changes in the fire environment (fuels, terrain, or weather) and random changes in plume dynamics. Within a single fire, stand replacement can occur with the peak intensity at the head of the fire, while a nonlethal fire occurs on the flanks. These changes create gaps in the canopy and small- to medium-sized openings. The result is a fine pattern of young, older, and multiple-aged vegetation patches. This type of fire regime commonly occurs in some ecosystems because of fluctuations in the fire environment [3, 21]. For example, complex terrain favors mixed-severity fires because fuel moisture and wind vary on small spatial scales. Secondly, temporal variation in fire severity occurs when individual fires alternate over time between low-intensity surface fires and high-severity stand replacement fires, resulting in a variable fire regime [15, 21]. Temporal variability also occurs when periodic cool-moist climate cycles are followed by warm-dry periods leading to cyclic (in other words, multiple decade-level) changes in the role of fire in ecosystem dynamics and human hazards. For example, in an upland forest, reduced fire occurrence during the cool-moist cycle leads to increased stand density and fuel buildup. Fires that occur during the transition between cool-moist and warm-dry periods can be expected to be more severe and have long-lasting effects on vegetation dynamics [22].
The commonly accepted term for describing the ecological, hydrological, and geological effects of a specific fire is fire severity. This term describes the magnitude of the disturbance and, therefore, reflects the degree of change in ecosystem components. Fire affects both the aboveground and belowground components of ecosystems due to energy pulses aboveground and heat pulse transferred downward into the soil. It reflects the amount of energy (heat) that is released by a fire that ultimately affects natural resources and their functions, and human infrastructure. It reflects the amount of energy (heat) that is released by a fire that ultimately affects resource responses. Fire severity is largely dependent upon the nature of the fuels available for burning, and the characteristics of combustion that occur when these fuels are burned [3, 7].
Although the literature historically contains confusion between the terms fire intensity and fire severity, a fairly consistent distinction between the two terms has been emerging in recent years. Fire managers trained in fire behavior prediction systems use the term fire intensity in a strict thermodynamic sense to describe the rate of energy released [23]. Fire intensity is concerned mainly with the rate of aboveground fuel consumption and, therefore, the energy release rate [24]. The faster a given quantity of fuel burns, the greater the intensity, the higher the severity, the greater the energy release, and the shorter the duration [25]. Fire intensity is not necessarily related to the total amount of energy produced during the burning process. Most energy released by flaming combustion of aboveground fuels is not transmitted downward. For example, Ref. [26] found that only about 5% of the heat released by a surface fire was transmitted into the ground during Australian bushfires. Therefore, fire intensity is not necessarily a good measure of the amount of energy transmitted downward into the soil, or the associated changes that occur in physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil. For example, it is possible that a high-intensity and fast-moving crown fire will consume little of the surface litter because only a small amount of the energy released during the combustion of fuels is transferred downward to the litter surface [27]. In this case, the surface litter is blackened (charred) but not consumed. In the extreme, examples have been reported in Australia, Alaska, and North Carolina where fast-spreading crown fires did not even scorch all of the surface fuels [7]. However, if the fire also consumes substantial surface and ground fuels, the residence time on a site is greater, and more energy is transmitted into the soil. In such cases, a “white ash” or “red ash” layer is often the only postfire material left on the soil surface [27] (Figure 3). Because one can rarely measure the actual energy release of a fire, the term fire intensity can have limited practical application when evaluating ecosystem responses to fire. Increasingly, the term fire severity is used to describe the effects of fire on the different ecosystem components and human resources [3].
Red and white ash deposits on high-severity burn areas after the 2006 Brins Fire, Coconino National Forest, Arizona (photo by Daniel G. Neary, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service).
Fires have been major hazards for humans for many centuries. With the development of large cities, fire became a significant risk to infrastructure and human life. The lack of organized and trained fire-fighting resources was a big factor in some of the more notorious urban fires. Rome burned in A.D. 64 during windy conditions from a fire that escaped from the Circus Maximus [28]. Of the city’s 14 districts, only 4 escaped fire damage. Deaths numbered in the thousands. An urban fire in Tokyo in 1657 destroyed 70% of the city and killed 100,000 inhabitants. Moscow burned during the French invasion in 1812 killing 55,000.
Wildfire in forests became a hazard factor in urban fires in the nineteenth century. The Miramichi Fire in Canada in 1825 burned 2 million ha of land and resulted in the death of 160–300 people. It was fueled by drought and spread at a rate of 1.6 km min−1. The real toll was unknown and could be much higher (3000) due to inaccurate accounts of persons in the rural area [29]. Seven towns were severely damaged or destroyed. The Peshtigo Fire of 1871 burned over 250,000 ha of Wisconsin and Michigan [28]. Sixteen communities were destroyed with a loss of 1150 lives.
Although human mortality rates associated with wildfires have declined in the twentieth century, wildfires continue to exact a toll on human lives because of the increase in area burned and the numbers of large fires [13]. Wildfire fatalities from 1910 to 2017 resulted in a cumulative toll of 1128 deaths for the USA [30]. Most fire years had human losses of less than 10 per year (Table 1). Of the yearly fatalities over 20 per year, 67% have occurred since 1990. Most wildfire-related deaths are caused by vehicle accidents, airplane crashes, and medical incidents. The exceptions involved fatalities in fire crews (1910, 1933, 1994, 2003, and 2013). Risks and incidents from wildfires that have spread into urban areas have been on the increase in the twenty-first century due to population expansion into wildland-urban interface areas, increased wildfire area coverage, greater numbers and size of wildfires, and higher fire severity [5]. Consequently, urban fatalities from wildfire incursions into urban areas have increased since 2017.
Fatality grouping | Number per grouping | Percentage |
---|---|---|
0 | 3 | 1.3 |
1–4 | 13 | 16.7 |
5–9 | 18 | 23.1 |
10–14 | 20 | 25.7 |
15–19 | 11 | 14.1 |
20–24 | 7 | 11.5 |
>25 | 6 | 7.6 |
USA wildfire-related fatalities per year 1929–2017 by grouping (National Interagency Fire Center 2019).
Australia suffered high human fatalities from the Black Saturday Kilmore East Fire in Victoria in 2009 [31]. Over 450,000 ha of forest and native bush burned in February of 2009 due to drought conditions and gale force winds. Speeds of 46–68 km hr.−1 with gusts to 91 km hr.−1 from hot air originating in the deserts of central Australia drove fire spreads of 68–153 m min−1. Spot fires developed 5–33 km ahead of the main fire front. The 173 human fatalities occurred mainly among the local rural population due to the rapid fire spread and insufficient time to evacuate the wildfire-threatened areas. At one point, the fires consumed 100,000 ha in <12 hours. Wildfires of this size and severity are extremely hazardous and almost impossible to comprehend.
In 2017, Portugal experienced its most deadly fire season on record losing at least 66 people to catastrophic summer wildfires. The following year, wildfires in Greece damaged over 2000 homes and killed at least 100 people. Although nationally deaths due to wildfires are on the decline, record-breaking wildfires in northern California in 2017–2018 produced substantial increases in deaths, mostly civilians [32]. A total of 8527 fires burned an area of 766,439 ha and resulted in 102 firefighter and civilian deaths.
In the summer of 2018, the Camp Fire in Northern California burned 62,053 ha and destroyed 18,804 structures including the entire town of Paradise, California. In total, the fire caused $16.5 billion in damages with over a quarter of those damages uninsured [33]. It was the costliest single natural disaster in the world to that point and caused the bankruptcy of a major utility provider, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which was held responsible for starting the fire due to faulty equipment.
Unfortunately, it is part of a trend in California, driven mostly by climate change, of increasing destruction and cost of seasonal wildfires. Just the previous year (2017), in December, the Thomas Fire destroyed at least 1063 structures at a cost of $2.2 billion in damages [34] and was preceded by only a couple of months by a complex of fires in the northern part of the state, which destroyed at least 8900 structures and cost in excess of $14.5 billion in damages [35].
Similar trends are being seen around the world. In 2017, Portugal experienced its most deadly and expensive fire season on record due to catastrophic summer wildfires. The 2018 wildfires in Greece suffered through what was considered to be one of the worst fire events in Europe in over a century. Canada set successive records in area burned with 1,216,053 ha 2017 and 1,298,450 ha 2018, losing at least 305 and 50 structures in those respective years [36].
Common factors in these events include months of below-average precipitation followed by untimely ignitions, both natural and anthropogenic and wind events that caused fires to spread in a dramatic fashion. The speed and ferocity with which these fires burned were commonly described as “unheard of” in the past and in many cases completely uncontrollable. The only choice of fire managers at the time was to stand-down and wait for conditions to improve. Unfortunately, this predicament appears to be a hazard becoming more common worldwide.
Fire events, particularly in California, USA, where dense population areas border highly fire-prone wildland areas have seen staggering losses as described above. A study conducted by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2016 estimated that total “costs,” which includes preparedness, mitigation, and suppression, as well as “losses,” which includes both direct (e.g., deaths, structure loss, timber loss, etc.) and indirect (e.g., property devaluation, supply chain disruption, evacuation costs, etc.) of wildfire within the USA range from $71.1 to $347.8 billion annually [32]. Estimates like these continue the long debate of who should pay for natural disaster losses in an era of global warming as they become more expensive and what should the future costs be to insure assets in fire-prone areas? These are difficult and complex questions to answer and are made even more urgent in an era where losses seem to be compounded every year.
Another immediate effect of fire is the release of gases and particulate pollutants by the combustion of biomass and soil organic matter. Air quality in large-scale airsheds can be degraded during and following fires [37]. Among the pollutants emitted, the release of fine particulate matter and ozone (O3) can have particularly deleterious effects on human health, which can be exacerbated when smoke from wildfires affect large population centers. Unfortunately, our understanding of the hazard that large-scale wildfires have on air quality is lacking and current estimates of emissions and impacts may be significantly underestimated [38].
Wildfires can cause both short- and long-term air quality impacts that are usually viewed as negative effects on environmental quality (Figure 4). Scientific information about air pollution from wildfires is motivated by government policies to restore the role of fire in ecosystems, to improve air quality, to protect human health, and to minimize emissions of greenhouse gases that are driving climate change [37]. Managing both fire and air quality to the standards set by national and regional governments requires sophisticated scientific knowledge of fire-related air pollution, a delicate management balancing act, and comprehensive educational outreach to both the public and government officials. The three main components of wildland fire and air quality are air resource, scale of impact, and fire management. Air resource includes such factors as smoke source, ambient air quality, and effects on receptors. Scales at which air quality is affected by wildland fires range from site and event to regional and global. Since wildland fire is a pervasive global, regional, and local phenomenon (Figure 5), air quality issues and interactions are inter-regional, transnational, and global. Fire management factors that are involved in air quality include planning, operations, and monitoring [39].
Smoke plume from the Schultz fire, June 2002, Coconino National Forest, Arizona (photo courtesy of USDA Forest Service, Peaks Ranger District, Coconino National Forest).
Regional air quality impacts from smoke generated by the Wallow Fire, 2011, Arizona, USA (image courtesy of MODIS web, U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
National and international air quality standards are set by legislative acts or agency regulations to protect the human population of negative health effects of fire-derived air pollutants [40, 41]. For most of the twentieth century, smoke emissions from prescribed fires were treated as human-caused, while wildfires were considered to be natural [37]. Policy debates have blurred the distinct separation between the two types of fires since some lightening starts are managed as prescribed natural fires for ecosystem restoration and fuel reduction purposes, and some wildfires have human ignition sources and burn in fuel loads made unnaturally high by human activity or the lack of management.
Some of the key pollutants targeted in air quality regulations include PM10 (particulate matter <10 μm in diameter), PM2.5 (particulate matter <2.5 μm in diameter) total suspended particulates, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), and lead and other heavy metals. The amounts and types of pollutants released by fires are affected by area burned, fuel characteristics prior to combustions, fire behavior, combustion stages, level of fuel consumption, and source strength [37]. Wildfires occur as episodic events that can threaten public health, cause smoke damage to buildings, and disrupt public activities [42]. Particulate concentrations rarely affect large city’s air quality, but they can rise to harmful levels (e.g., 600 μg m−3) in smaller communities located in forested regions. In some regions, wildfire smoke is the main cause of visibility reductions.
Although the public can be exposed to and become affected by wildland smoke and its constituents, the main concern is for firefighters and fire managers. Anyone who has been involved in wildfire suppression or prescribed fire management understands this. Unlike structural firefighters who utilize PBAs (personal breathing apparatus), wildland fire fighters at best have dust masks that reduce exposure to dust and large particulates but not small particulates and gases. Many data gaps exist in the understanding of human health hazards of wildland fire suppression and management [43].
The individuals whose health is most at risk include those with cardiopulmonary diseases and the elderly. However, normally healthy individuals, such as firefighters, are at increased risk of developing cardiopulmonary disease over the long term. Effects of PM10 and PM2.5 particulates, dust-borne silica, aldehydes, carbon monoxide, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, ozone, and heavy metals are poorly understood. The temporary nature of wildland fire personnel assignments make compilation of long-term health data difficult or impossible to achieve. Permanent fire personnel can be adequately assessed and monitored, but the bulk of wildland fire personnel cannot be properly evaluated.
In many cases, the greatest hazard posed by wildfires occurs in the postfire period when flooding events, made worse by the loss of vegetation, create debris flows (Figure 6). These catastrophic events often result in property and infrastructure destruction and in some cases loss of life [3, 7]. Debris flows typically occur in areas with steep topography after being subjected to wetting rains, which mobilize soil, rock, and other debris into a concrete-like torrent that moves downslope toward low-lying areas. These flows tend to have immense force due to the speed in which they move and can cause total destruction of objects in their path and contribute to human mortality. For example, it has been estimated based on insurance claims following the Thomas Fire southern California in 2017 that postfire damage assessments were mostly related to massive debris flows that originated in the burned area. The economic cost of these debris flows exceeded $1.8 billion [34].
Flood flows in an urbanized area below the 2010 Schultz Fire in Arizona, USA (photo by Daniel G. Neary, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service).
While these events can be highly destructive and very costly, they can also be somewhat mitigated through prefire planning and zoning regulations as well as adequate infrastructure. The problem is that often the size of flooding events following wildfire can fall into a once in a century or even a millennia event making the cost justification for accommodating such an event beforehand challenging. However, as these events begin to become more common and costs begin to escalate, the argument for increased preparation must be considered.
Take for example the Schultz Fire, which occurred just outside of Flagstaff, Arizona, USA, in 2010. The fire burned on steep slopes within the Coconino National Forest immediately adjacent to subdivisions located in the valley below. Summer rainfall events following the fire initiated massive flooding and debris flows into the area. Fortunately, there was only one flood-related mortality. While estimates of the costs related directly to the fire suppression were around $9,460,909, the cost of the response to the flood was nearly twice that at $16,470,682. However, both these costs were outdone by the nearly $33,172,803 that was invested in infrastructure over the following 4 years needed to mitigate future flood risk. The financial analysis published on this event [44] in 2013 also pointed out that the cost estimates were only for official expenditures by government agencies and local utilities. The loss in property devaluation, infrastructure damage, increased insurance premiums, and other associated costs totaled more than $60 million in additional losses, making the argument for increased spending on hazard mitigation valid. The economic hazards of the fire were 10 times the funds expended to suppress the Schultz Fire. And this accounting did not include the value of lost or damaged natural resources.
Landscape scale fire events can have profound influence on elements of water quality including increasing turbidity, temperature, and contaminants sometimes for many years following the fire [45, 46, 47, 48, 49]. One study near Denver, Colorado, found that average spring and summer water temperatures increased by 5–6°C and that nitrate concentrations increased over 100 times greater than typical stream concentrations following the Hayman Fire in 2002. In addition, summer storms continued to mobilize sediment and create surface runoff corresponding to spikes in nutrient concentration and turbidity for years following the fire event [50].
Ecologically, flooding events following a wildfire can be catastrophic on aquatic communities. This is due primarily to the depletion of oxygen and the increase in turbidity in ash-laden debris flows (Figure 7). The two biggest factors affecting long-term recovery and health of aquatic habitats impacted by fire are physical channel stability and water temperature [51]. Loss of streamside vegetation due to fire and instability or changes in physical habitat due to flooding can diminish aquatic habitats for decades. The timing and severity of flooding events are directly related to preceding fire incident. Typically, low order or headwater streams are more susceptible to vegetation changes and flooding than higher order streams; however, depending on the magnitude of input, even larger rivers and reservoirs can be subjected to diminished water quality and loss of aquatic species due to ash-laden flow inputs.
Post-fire runoff with high concentrations of sediment, ash, and charcoal, Rodeo-Chediski Fire, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Arizona, 2002 (photo by Daniel G. Neary, Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service).
The increase in scope and scale of wildfire worldwide tends to have a more intrinsic effect on ecosystem function, affecting qualities that are not always measureable in economic terms. Degradation of soil [8] and water resources [3, 5] along with landscape scale changes in vegetation [51] has the ability to shape ecosystems for decades if not centuries [52]. These cascading effects are becoming selective for plant and animal species, which are pioneer species at first and later are disturbance oriented as these systems begin the slow process of recovery, often punctuated by reoccurring disturbance events such as flooding or even subsequent fire events. At relatively small scales, the input of fire, even high-severity fire, can introduce heterogeneity into a landscape that can be beneficial to the ecosystem as a whole, creating niches and freeing up resources for new species to establish in an area. However, there is a size threshold that once crossed starts to become an impediment to recovery and results in long-term loss of habitat suitability for specific species. For example, the loss of seed sources both in the soil bank and from mature plants for obligate seed species can have a limiting effect on the recolonization and distribution of many long-lived conifer species [53]. Similarly, the impact from flooding events on fragmented streams due to anthropogenic or natural barriers may make the recolonization of some aquatic species impossible and result in permanent extirpation [54]. In these cases, wildfire begins to act on a genetic level to influence the long-term stability and ecosystem function of an area. This poses a serious environmental hazard due to the permanent loss of important species in an ecosystem and increasing the risk of desertification [8].
Humans live in or adjacent to wildland ecosystems that burn periodically and are part of nearly all ecosystems that are in the pyrosphere. There are many hazards posed by wildfire and certain consequences of living in these ecosystems. Most are associated with wildfire but the increased use of prescribed fire is an issue because of associated risks with human attempts to manage ecological goals. The economic and social consequences of wildfire have been discussed by a number of authors [3, 5, 7, 42]. These consequences involve cultural and economic loss, social disruption, infrastructure damage, human injury and mortality, damage to natural resources, and deterioration in air quality. The economic and human health and safety costs are on the rise due to increasing wildland-urban interface problems and extreme wildfire behavior brought on by climate change. In the past, urban fires have been the greatest threat to human health and safety killing over 100,000 people.
With modern fire control organizations in cities, the greatest hazard has shifted to wildlands. The Miramichi Fire in Canada’s eastern woodlands in 1825 may have killed 3000. In the USA, the most devastating wildland wildfire known was the Peshtigo Fire of 1871 that killed over 1150 people. Recent wildfires in Australia in 2009 and California in 2017 and 2018 claimed up to 270 lives in a single fire event in each country. The increasing development of the wildland-urban interface in the USA and other countries is raising the risks that a similar fatal event could occur in the future. Large fatalities due to wildfire hazards may be a thing of the past, but frequent deaths such as those in Australia in 2009 may tally up to greater numbers. In addition, the economic hazards of wildfires are growing. The large amounts of funds needed to suppress large wildfires are a small fraction of the total economic damage. Nationally, in the USA, fire suppression, collateral infrastructure damage, urban destruction, and other wildfire mitigation efforts exceed the total management budgets of the state and federal agencies.
World ecosystems have been modified extensively by fire. We live on a “fire planet” [1, 2, 42]. With larger human populations and a changing, drying climate, the impact of fire on humans and the hazards faced by our natural and developed world will continue to increase. The increase in wildfire hazards in the twenty-first century will require higher levels of training, increased investments in wildfire personnel and infrastructure, greater wildfire awareness, and improved planning to reduce fire impacts.
The authors would like to thank the Rocky Mountain Research Station, Air-Water-Aquatic Environments Research Program, and the Program Manager, Frank McCormick, for support of this effort.
There are no “Conflicts of Interest” associated with this paper. It was produced by US Forest Service employees during normal work hours and on appropriated funding.
With the growth of world population and progressive increase in living standards, the consumption of goods and energy has also increased, along with land use change and deforestation, intensified agricultural practices, industrialization and energy use from fossil fuel sources. All of these have contributed to ever-increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, since the industrial era.
\nMunicipal solid waste (MSW) is a manifestation of the unsustainable consumption of natural resources by humankind, which has led to—and continues to—the depletion of natural capital and environmental degradation.
\nCurrent global MSW generation levels are approximately 1.3 billion tons/year, and by 2025, these are expected to increase to approximately 2.2 billion tons/year. This represents a significant increase in per capita waste generation rates, from 1.20 to 1.42 kg per person per day, in the next 15 years (2018–2033). However, global averages are broad estimates only, as rates vary considerably by region, country, and even within cities [1].
\nOn a global scale, 70% of MSW is landfilled, 19% is recycled, and only 11% is utilized in Waste-to-Energy (WtE) schemes—this occurs due to logistical and economic issues—such as primary fossil energy scarcity and landfill volume restrictions [2].
\nThe concept of circular economy (CE)—while not entirely new—has recently gained importance in the agendas of policymakers, to address the aforementioned and other sustainability issues [3]. The aim of CE is to maintain the value of products, materials and resources as long as possible, to minimize the use of resources; in other words, CE is based on a “win-win” philosophy that states that prosper economy and healthy environment can co-exist [4].
\nWtE plants have a dual objective: reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and produce useful energy (heat and/or power). The WtE supply chain provides a method for simultaneously addressing issues related to energy demand, waste management and emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), achieving a circular economy system (CES) [5].
\nTraditionally, WtE has been associated with incineration. Yet, the term is much broader, embracing several waste treatment processes that generate energy (electricity and/or heat), such as pyrolysis, conventional or plasma arc gasification, as well as nonthermal processes such as anaerobic digestion and landfill-gas recovery.
\nMunicipal solid waste (MSW), also referred to as trash or garbage, consists of several items that are discarded after use, such as grass clippings, furniture, clothing, food scraps, product packaging, bottles, newspapers, appliances, paint, and batteries [6]. Construction, industrial, and hazardous waste are not considered MSW.
\nIn recent decades, there has been increasing pressure on developed countries to reduce their waste associated with single-use discarded materials. The objective is to conserve natural resources, including energy (which is utilized for the production of such materials), and reduce the amount of materials disposed in sanitary landfills. The philosophy of waste management aims at decreasing the amount of waste generated by society and incentivizing reutilization and recovery of its energy content, when reutilization or recycling is not possible through biochemical or thermochemical technological routes.
\nFigure 1 presents a scheme based on the pyramid proposed by the European Commission. Different management strategies are ranked from most to least environmentally preferred.
\nWaste hierarchy, adapted from [7].
Most WtE transformation processes require pre-treatment of MSW. The characteristics of the raw materials within solid waste are affected by several factors, which range from the storage method (influence of humidity), maturity (wide variety of waste within an excavated landfill), classification policies (which vary depending on the country), to name a few. Successful implementation of WtE conversion technologies depends considerably on the efficiency of the process, which, in turn, depends on the quality of the waste considered. Table 1 presents the global average composition of MSW.
\nComponent | \nFraction (%) | \n
---|---|
Organic | \n46 | \n
Metal | \n4 | \n
Plastic | \n10 | \n
Paper | \n17 | \n
Other | \n18 | \n
Composition of global MSW [8].
The recovery of energy and materials from MSW through the production of a refuse derived fuel (RDF) is one of the alternatives advocated by waste management planners and government regulations [9]. RDF is the product of processing MSW to separate the noncombustible from the combustible portion, enabling better reuse of materials and recycling of MSW, with the possibility of achieving higher efficiencies in energy recovery treatments. RDF is an efficient fuel with several advantages in comparison with MSW, due to its high calorific value, more homogeneous chemical composition, more convenient storage and handling characteristics, and less carbon emissions.
\nSome studies have characterized the streams of materials involved in the RDF production process [9, 10], with descriptions on the characteristics of RDF in terms of composition and proximate and ultimate analysis [11, 12]. Also, the energy potential of RDF obtained from combustible solid waste has been evaluated by [13, 14].
\nTable 2 shows data compiled by [15] for the elemental composition of MSW and RDF.
\n\n | \n | MSW | \nRDF | \nRDF processed from landfill waste | \n
---|---|---|---|---|
Water content | \nwt% wet | \n34.2 [31.0–38.5] | \n10.8 [2.9–38.7] | \n14.4 [12–35.4] | \n
Volatiles | \nwt% dafa | \n87.1 [87.1] | \n88.5 [74.6–99.4] | \n80.4 | \n
Ash | \nwt% dry | \n33.4 [16.6–44.2] | \n15.8 [7.8–34.5] | \n27.1 | \n
Net calorific value | \nMJ/kg daf | \n18.7 [12.1–22.5] | \n22.6 [1.1–29.3] | \n22 | \n
C | \nwt% daf | \n49.5 [33.9–56.8] | \n54.6 [42.5–68.7] | \n54.9 | \n
H | \nwt% daf | \n5.60 [1.72–8.46] | \n8.37 [5.84–15.16] | \n7.38 | \n
O | \nwt% daf | \n32.4 [22.4–38.5] | \n34.4 [15.8–43.7] | \nNAb | \n
N | \nwt% daf | \n1.33 [0.70–1.95] | \n0.91 [0.22–2.37] | \n2.03 | \n
S | \nwt% daf | \n0.51 [0.22–1.40] | \n0.41 [0.01–1.27] | \n0.36 | \n
The direct utilization of MSW in processes for the recovery of energy can lead to variable operation conditions, even unstable, with quality fluctuations in the final product. This is a consequence of the heterogeneity of the material regarding size, shape and composition. This is why firstly fuel is derived from waste, which is then utilized in the energy generation system [16]. For gasification and pyrolysis technologies, pretreatment is a fundamental requirement, which does not occur when considering plasma gasification and incineration.
\nWith the objective of improving the handling characteristics and homogeneity of the material, the conversion process of MSW into fuels is constituted by different steps: trituration, sifting, selection, drying and/or pelletization. The least expensive and most well-established current practice to produce RDF from MSW is mechanical pretreatment (MT); however, different schemes can be used, as presented by [17].
\nThe characteristics of waste are important when selecting a specific WtE technology. The energy recovery efficiency depends on variables such as technology and quality of waste. An optimized plant that treats preselected waste can recover two or three times more electricity and heat than a more traditional plant that treats raw waste [18].
\nThere is a wide range of WtE technologies, biochemical and thermochemical, for the conversion of solid waste into energy (steam or electricity). Fuels such hydrogen, natural gas, synthetic diesel and ethanol can be utilized [19, 20].
\nThe biochemical route, in the case of MSW, refers to anaerobic digestion, which consists of controlled decomposition by microbes to reduce the organic material. Biochemical processes are used in the treatment of waste with high percentages of biodegradable organic matter and high moisture content. Methane, fuel for electricity generation, steam and heat can be produced.
\nOne of the disadvantages of the biological treatment is the preprocessing required to separate MSW. Biochemical conversion of waste can be grouped into four categories: anaerobic digestion/fermentation, aerobic digestion, composting, and landfill gas power (LFG). These technologies are the most economic and environmentally safe means of obtaining energy from MSW [21].
\nIn thermochemical conversion, both biodegradable and nonbiodegradable matters contribute to the energy output. Incineration, gasification and pyrolysis are types of thermochemical conversion processes, which are fundamental and necessary components of a comprehensive and integral urban solid waste management system [22].
\nThe main advantages of thermochemical processes include lower masses and volumes of waste, decrease in the space occupied by landfills, destruction of organic pollutants such as halogenated hydrocarbons, and decrease in the emission of GHGs due to anaerobic decomposition. When considering the life cycle, the use of waste as a source of energy generates less environmental impacts than other conventional energy sources.
\nWith incineration, the energy value of waste can be recovered; however, pyrolysis and gasification can be utilized to recover the chemical value of waste. The derived chemical products, in some cases, can be utilized as inputs in other processes or as secondary fuels.
\nWith the conversion of MSW into fuels, higher calorific values are obtained along with more homogeneous physical and chemical compositions, lower levels of pollutants and ashes, less excess air required for combustion, and better conditions for storage, handling, and transportation. Therefore, it is recommended to establish a balance between increasing production costs and the potential reduction of costs associated with designing and operating the system. Figure 2 shows thermochemical conversion processes, the products involved, and energy and material recovery systems.
\nThermochemical conversion processes and products, adapted from [23].
In the next topic, the main aspects of each of the mentioned routes will be analyzed.
\nWaste incineration is a specific treatment that reduces the volume of waste and its level of dangerousness, selecting and concentrating, or destroying the potentially harmful substances. Incineration processes can also offer the possibility of recovering the energy, mineral or chemical content of waste.
\nDuring recent decades, most industrialized countries with high population densities have employed incineration as an alternative procedure to controlled landfilling, for the treatment of MSW.
\nAccording to Ref. [24], the two main processes applied for the thermal treatment of waste are fluidized bed combustion and grate combustion. Another technological alternative is the rotary furnace or rotary kiln frequently employed in the field of waste treatment, for the combustion of hazardous waste in combination with other devices for gasification and pyrolysis [25].
\nGrate combustion, also known as mass burn combustion, is by far the most utilized, as it can handle larger items and only oversized materials have to be crushed. Fluidized bed combustion (as well as most pyrolysis and gasification processes) requires the waste to be shredded into small particles before being introduced in the combustion (pyrolysis/gasification) chamber [24].
\nThe calorific value of the material to be incinerated and the polluting potential of the emissions generated are the main reasons for the evolution of incineration systems (higher combustion efficiencies and effective removal of contaminants).
\nDue to the heterogeneous nature of waste, some differences with respect to conventional fossil fuel power plants have to be considered in the energy conversion process. The efficiency of a coal burning cycle is generally around 40%, while the efficiency of a garbage incineration cycle varies between 20 and 25%, if operating in a cogeneration mode, and up to 25–35% in the case of power production only [8, 26, 27, 28]. In general, fuel quality (i.e., waste) and other technical conditions (e.g., plant size, low temperature sources, etc.) limit the electrical efficiency of incinerators. This means that more than 70–80% of the heat generated by waste combustion is rejected to the environment.
\nThe conversion efficiency of steam energy into electricity increases with higher steam temperatures and pressures. However, when increasing steam temperature, the heat transfer surfaces are submitted to severe high-temperature corrosion, caused by metal chlorides in the ash particles deposited on the gas tubes and by high concentrations of chlorine and sulfur in MSW. Most chlorines are present in plastics (e.g., PVC), while fluorines are present in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTEF), along with other inorganic compounds. Corrosion limits steam properties to maximums of 450–500°C and 4.0–6.0 MPa, while the steam temperature can reach 600°C in a coal cycle [27, 29].
\nHCl is highly corrosive at high (>450°C) and low (<110°C) temperatures. The heating surfaces of radiant parts are protected by a resistant refractory material and/or welded high-alloy to prevent corrosive attacks in the furnace of the boiler system. The feed water should be preheated to a minimum of 125°C, before being sent to the boiler, to prevent low-temperature corrosion [29].
\nBeyond corrosion problems, another negative aspect related to WtE plants is represented by erosion, especially the abrasion of surface material responsible for the vertical wear and tear. This is primarily caused by the ash particles present in flue-gas, and erosion appears mostly in the area of gas redirection. Tube wear is caused by a combination of corrosion and abrasion.
\nThe pollutants released with exhaust gases after the burning of the waste affect the efficiency of the boiler. In an MSW incineration plant, efficiency is influenced by the heat lost with exhaust gases and by corrosion, which means that the temperature of exhaust gases cannot be significantly changed. For this reason, until 2013, the maximum efficiency of a boiler was approximately 87% [30].
\nThe incineration of MSW emits GHG such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitric oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), polyfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF). When the furnace is maintained under high oxidizable conditions, there is no CH4 being emitted in the gases exiting the chimney. When primary air is supplied from the storage tank, CH4 is oxidized to CO2 and H2O.
\nThe pollutants emitted during incineration hinder the improvement of the steam cycle, but new technologies developed for the recovery of energy have managed to improve the overall efficiency of the plant. Some of the factors that have contributed the most to the improvement of new plants include two-second increase in residence time for dioxin destruction, high performance with mobile grills, utilization of new metal alloys and high-performance exhaust gas cleaning systems [31].
\nMost recent data from the Eurostat database highlight that municipal waste was treated differently in the EU 28 in 2014: 16.1% is composted (Eurostat shows it as biological treatment), 27.3% is incinerated (total incineration including energy recovery), 28.2% is recycled and 28.4% is landfilled [32].
\nJapan has 1172 incinerators for the treatment of 80% of MSW; approximately 71% of MSW is incinerated with energy recovery generating 1770 MW [33]. In the United States, there are 77 WtE power plants, of which 78% employ mass burn technology (60 facilities), 17% refuse derived fuel (13 facilities), and 4% utilize modular combustion (4 facilities). Of these facilities, 77% produce electricity (59 units), 4% export steam (3 units), and 19% cogeneration—or combined heat and power (15 units) [32].
\nLFG power represents one of the most readily available, cheap and relatively simple forms of WtE options. However, the carbon dioxide emissions from landfills per ton of MSW processed are at least 1.2 t CO2, much higher than WtE plants. Considering all environmental performance criteria (energy, material, and land consumption, air and water emissions, risks), WtE is the most favorable solution [24].
\nGasification is the thermal conversion of carbon-based material into a mixture of combustible gases, called syngas. Gasification is used to convert solid materials such as coal, coke, biomass and solid waste into a gas, with average composition 15–30% CO, 12–40% H, and 4.5–9% CH4. The lower heating value (LHV) of syngas is between 4 and 13 MJ/Nm3, depending on the oxidizing agent used in gasification, operating conditions, among other factors [34]. From the syngas gas produced, different chemical intermediate products can be obtained, with different industrial uses. Energy can also be obtained, in the form of power, heat or biofuel. Gasification temperature is one of the most important operation parameters that affects the performance of the process, due to the balance between endothermic and exothermic reactions involved.
\nRef. [35] compared different thermochemical conversion processes, and verified that gasification technology is the best choice considering energy and environmental perspectives. Gasification has attracted attention and gained importance in recent years, presenting higher energy efficiency and being friendlier to the environment.
\nOne of the challenges of MSW gasification is the characteristics of MSW, with variable size and moisture content, and highly variable on calorific value [36].
\nThe gasification of MSW is an effective technique to reduce the amount of waste, and is relatively faster than the conventional processes (more residues can be treated in less time). The process of integrated gasification and combustion emits dioxin and furan within acceptable limits established by national and international agencies [37].
\nAlthough gasification has been employed for over 200 years, gasification of MSW is still in its early development stages. Some companies are developing smaller, compact gasifiers designed to be used by cities, towns, and military bases. Companies engaged in waste gasification and the characteristics of gasification plants can be consulted in the Global Syngas Technologies Council Database (GSTC) [38].
\nPlasma gasification is a technology suitable for MSW that uses a specific type of allothermal gasifiers. The heat that maintains the endothermic gasification reactions is provided by electrically generated thermal plasma (a plasma torch where an electric arc is created between two electrodes inside a vase and an inert gas is injected through this arc) [39].
\nThe plasma torch temperature varies between 2700 and 4500°C, which is sufficient to crack the complex hydrocarbons in syngas, and all inorganic compounds (glass, metals, heavy metals) are melted in a volcanic-type lava that becomes a basaltic slag after cooling. The advantage of this system is that the syngas is produced in high temperatures, which ensures the destruction of all dioxins and furans. More information about this technology can be found in Refs. [40, 41].
\nTable 3 shows why gasification is attractive among other waste-to-energy technologies, due to its high efficiency for electricity generation at a lower unit cost.
\nPerformance parameter | \nIncineration | \nPyrolysis | \nPlasma gasification | \nConventional gasification | \n
---|---|---|---|---|
Capacity (t/day) | \n250 | \n250 | \n250 | \n250 | \n
Conversion efficiency (MWh/t) | \n0.5 | \n0.3 | \n0.4 | \n0.9 | \n
Power generation capacity (MWh/day) | \n160 | \n180 | \n108 | \n224 | \n
Unit cost/kWh installed | \n435 | \n222 | \n1000 | \n125 | \n
Unit cost (US$/nominal ton/day) | \n500 | \n160 | \n960 | \n112 | \n
Comparison between different MSW thermal treatment technologies [42].
Pyrolysis is the thermal degradation of organic material in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere at approximately 400–900°C, producing gas, liquid and solid products. The yield and composition of the products are influenced by a range of pyrolysis process parameters, including the type of waste, reactor system, gas residence time, contact time, heating rate, temperature, pressure ranges, and presence of catalysts [43].
\nDue to the different operation conditions, pyrolysis can be classified into three main categories: slow, fast and flash pyrolysis.
\nPyrolysis is a promising technology and is currently utilized in many regions of the world for MSW disposal and energy generation. The objective of MSW pyrolysis is to treat waste, reduce its volume and associated hazards, destroying potentially harmful substances. Pyrolysis can also involve energy recovery from waste, in the form of heat, steam, electricity, or fuel (e.g., oil, char, and gas).
\nThere are several types of pyrolysis reactors for MSW treatment operating in different countries, of which the most common are fixed-bed, fluidized bed, and rotary kiln reactors. Fixed-bed equipment is easy to operate and control, but presents disadvantages such as uneven heating and discontinuous running. The fluidized bed reactor can operate continuously and presents some advantages, such as high heat transfer efficiency and manageable temperature, but the resulting pyrolysis gas presents low calorific value. The rotary kiln reactor presents high internal heating and good adaptability to MSW; however, this technology presents a difficulty associated with the sealing of connectors [44].
\nMore details on typical pyrolysis reactors, problems and MSW plants and products can be found in Refs. [42, 45, 46].
\nAnaerobic digestion consists of a set of processes in which microorganisms consume the organic matter present in waste, in the absence of oxygen. This process occurs naturally in some types of soil and in the sediments settled on the bottom of a body of water (e.g., rivers, lakes, oceans, and swamps), where oxygen cannot penetrate. Decomposition of the submerse biomass occurs at the bottom of hydroelectricity reservoirs, producing methane.
\nThere are several chemical reactions associated with conversion processes, which are in chemical balance. Generally, although some authors classify the anaerobic digestion process in two or even three steps, it is more common to utilize four steps to describe the process, as depicted in Table 4.
\nThe main aspects that influence anaerobic digestion are [48, 49]:
\npH/alkalinity: methanogenic bacteria are sensitive to acid environments, and an increase in the pH will inhibit their growth. pH varies throughout the different steps of the process due to the generation of fatty acids, CO2, and bicarbonates. pH correction is accomplished through the addition of a basic compound (CaCO3, NaOH). The optimal range of pH is between 6.6 and 7.4.
\nTemperature: temperature is related to the growth of microbes, and therefore, its control is very important for optimal growth/development of microorganisms and performance of anaerobic digestion. The process can occur in two ranges, mesophilic (25–40°C) and thermophilic (55–65°C). The mesophilic range is an interval of temperature conditions that enables bacteria to be more tolerant to changes in the environment, constituting more resistant microorganisms, but with higher retention times and lower production of biogas. This condition enables the use of simpler reactors, without complex control systems, with simpler operation strategies that entail lower capital costs. However, within thermophilic conditions, there is a higher production of biogas, with lower retention times. In these conditions, microorganisms are less tolerant to changes in the environment, which if occur, can compromise the production. A more complex, precise control system is required, with higher capital costs associated.
\nSubstrate concentrations: an increase in the organic load can lead to an excessive production of acids, which can act as inhibitors for other reactions and cause lower biogas yield.
\nPartial H2pressure: an increase in pressure can lead to system collapse due to accumulation of acids.
\nC/N ratio: in the anaerobic digestion process, carbon corresponds to the source of energy, and nitrogen enables microbial growth. The optimal ratio between carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) varies between 20 and 30. High values of the C/N relationship are associated with a fast consumption of nitrogen, which can limit microbial growth and reduce gas production. Lower C/N values lead to accumulation of ammonia, which affects the pH of the reactor.
\nAnaerobic digestion adds value to MSW, generating an overall positive impact on the environment as it avoids a series of issues (negative impacts) associated with the natural decomposition process that occurs in landfills, besides enabling the substitution of other fossil raw materials.
\nThe process of anaerobic digestion can occur in controlled environments, such as in biodigesters, which recover energy from waste, and in sanitary landfills. Sanitary landfills are locations for the controlled disposal of waste, reducing its negative environmental impact, and for the control of lixiviate material. Some landfills generate electricity from the biogas produced.
\nBiogas production from organics within the MSW stream is in the range of 100–150 m3 of biogas per ton of source separated organics (SSO) [50].
\nThere are currently several commercially consolidated technologies for biodigestion, such as the Dranco, Valorga, Kompoga, BTA, and Linde-BRV systems. These technologies are widely employed in Europe, with 118 plants in operation, which totalize a combined treatment capacity 5.12 million tons of MSW per year. The Valorga system alone presents an installed capacity of 2.19 million tons of MSW [51, 52]. Table 5 presents a summary of size, capacity and applications of anaerobic digestion systems.
\nStep | \nDescription | \n
---|---|
Hydrolysis | \nOrganic polymolecules are cracked into standard molecules such as sugars, amino, and fatty acids with the addition of hydroxyl groups. This is accomplished by hydrolytic bacteria. | \n
Acidogenesis | \nSugars, fatty, and amino acids are converted into smaller molecules, with the formation of volatile fatty acids (acetic, propionic, butyric, and valeric acids) and production of ammonia, carbon dioxide, and H2S as subproducts. | \n
Acetogenesis | \nThe molecules produced during acidogenesis are digested, producing carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and acetic acid. | \n
Methanogenesis | \nFormation of methane, carbon dioxide, and water. | \n
Description of the anaerobic digestion phases [47].
Size | \nCapacity (t/year) | \nElectricity production | \nTypical applications | \n
---|---|---|---|
Small | \nUp to 7500 | \n25–250 kWe | \nResidential and agricultural (farms) applications | \n
Intermediate | \n7500–30,000 | \n250–1 MWe | \nAgricultural applications or digestible waste production facilities | \n
Large | \nAbove 30,000 | \nOver 1 MWe | \nCentralized, with several mixed raw materials (municipal, industrial) | \n
Size, capacity, and applications of anaerobic digestion systems [53].
More details about WtE such as biogas technologies, process, efficiencies, economic, and environment aspects can be found in Refs. [50, 54].
\nLandfill gas (LFG) is formed when organic wastes decompose anaerobically in a landfill. Although LFG gas is generated under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, the initial aerobic phase is short-lived and produces a gas with a much lower energy content than does the long-term anaerobic phase which follows.
\nThere are several models developed to estimate the amount of biogas that can be produced from a sanitary landfill. According to Ref. [55], these models can be divided into:
\nZero-order models: generation of biogas is considered constant throughout time, with no influence of age and type of waste.
\nFirst-order models: consider waste characteristics, such as humidity, carbon content, MSW availability.
\nSecond-order models: utilize the reactions that occur during organic matter degradation, constituting a second-order kinetic model.
\nNumerical and mathematical models: consider the different variables involved in the process, and require a higher number of inputs.
\nThe most utilized models for the estimation of biogas production from waste are the first-order models, of which the IPCC and LandGEM [55] are the most employed.
\nDeveloped by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it is a first-order decay model (revised equations of IPCC-2006). It considers the degradation rates of waste and generation of methane throughout time. In the case of MSW, information on the different types of residues (food scraps, paper, wood, textiles, etc.) is required [56]. According to the IPCC model, the amount of methane produced is given by:
\n\n\n
L0(t) is the methane generation potential, expressed as:
\nMCF(t) is the methane correction factor and reflects the management of the disposal locations (dimensionless), DOC(t) is the degradable organic carbon (t carbon/t waste), DOCf is the fraction of degradable carbon (dimensionless), F is the methane fraction within biogas (dimensionless), 16/12 is the conversion ratio between carbon (C) and methane (CH4) (dimensionless), R(n) is the recovered methane (t CH4/t waste), n are the years considered, and OX is an oxidation factor (reflects the amount of methane in the residual mass that is oxidized in the soil and cover layer (dimensionless).
\nThe Landfill Gas Emissions Model (LandGEM) was developed in 2005 by the Control Technology Center of the Environmental Protection Agency of the U.S.A. This mathematical model is utilized to estimate the amount of landfill gas generated in a specific location, allowing for variations to be introduced. Besides methane, 49 other compounds can be calculated. It is based on electronic worksheets that use a first-order decay equation. It is considered that methane generation peaks soon after initial disposal of waste and the methane generation rate decays exponentially as organic matter is consumed by bacteria [55]:
\n\n\n
There is a great potential for electricity generation from landfill gas (biogas), as 1 ton of methane can be equivalent to 3.67 MWh—considering a conversion efficiency of 30%, this can be equivalent to 1.1 MWhe [57]. This way, considering the ever-growing restrictions regarding MSW disposal along with the high volumes of MSW generated (with high energy potential), the use of anaerobic digestion has been the focus of several studies. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has a study group dedicated to biogas energy, Task 37: energy from biogas, with the objective of approaching the challenges related to economic and environmental sustainability of the production and utilization of biogas [58].
\nWith the increasing necessity of promoting renewable energies, along with the emergence of new technologies that have lowered production costs, anaerobic digestion has been attracting the attention of developed European countries and also of populous countries such as India and China [1].
\nAnother factor that contributes to the economic viability of anaerobic biodigestion is the progressive trend of countries adopting laws that prohibit the disposal of organic waste in sanitary landfills, demanding technologies that can effectively manage waste and recover the energy still contained within the covalent bonds of organic waste [58].
\nThe study by Ref. [59] presented step-by-step, thorough calculations for landfill gas generation capacity, including the total amount of solid waste disposed, total organic matter, fractions of degradable organics, methane generated, methane captured, and finally, the amount of approximately 65,000 tons of captured LFG in 30 years. The leachate flow in the landfill was 8000 m3/year. The landfill could produce approximately 135 GWh of electricity throughout its lifetime, with a global efficiency of almost 84%.
\nInvestment costs depend on the degree of complexity of the technology, as well as whether the system requires auxiliary processes such as pretreatment, gas cleaning, among others. Table 6 presents cost estimated for different waste treatment technologies.
\nWTE technologies | \nCapital cost (US$/ton of MSW/year) | \nOperational cost (US$/ton of MSW/year) | \n
---|---|---|
Incineration | \n400–700 | \n40–70 | \n
Pyrolysis | \n400–700 | \n50–80 | \n
Gasification | \n250–850 | \n45–85 | \n
Anaerobic digestion | \n50–350 | \n5–35 | \n
Landfilling with gas recovery | \n10–30 | \n1–3 | \n
Cost estimates for different waste treatment technologies [60].
Regarding the costs associated with MSW disposal, biological routes present considerably lower costs than thermochemical routes. The facilities that utilize biological routes present simpler construction, when compared with thermochemical facilities. Besides, operational costs correspond to approximately 1% of the capital cost required.
\nNowadays, it becomes more evident that mankind is facing serious difficulties regarding waste disposal and therefore can be its own victim. Waste disposal is unavoidable, but special, systematic efforts must be directed to establish a turnaround strategy.
\nOne of the biggest challenges for modern society is establishing an effective strategy for the management and treatment of municipal solid waste. This strategy should consider, whenever possible, economic and environmental viewpoints. Global warming mitigation alternatives include the harvesting of landfill gas as an important waste management strategy.
\nThere are currently different technological routes for municipal solid waste, which could transform these from a challenge or a problem into a source of clean energy and useful recyclable raw materials. At the same time, the impact of waste on the environment would decrease, benefitting human health and natural resources.
\nJosé Carlos Escobar Palacio wishes to express his thanks to the Brazilian National Research and Development Council (CNPq), grant no. 310674/2015-8 and the Foundation for Research Support of the State of Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG). Monica Carvalho would also like to acknowledge the support received by CNPq, grant no. 303199/2015-6. José Joaquim Conceição Soares Santos would like to thank the National Agency of Petroleum Gas and Biofuels (ANP) and the Foundation for Support to Research and Innovation of Espírito Santo (FAPES) for the financial support. Dimas José Rúa Orozco wish to express their thanks to the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Level Personnel (CAPES) for the financial support through the National Postdoctoral Program—PNPD/CAPES.
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