Estimation of CO₂ emissions from waste incinerators: Comparison of three methods

Climate-relevant CO₂ emissions from waste incineration were compared using three methods: making use of CO₂ concentration data, converting O₂ concentration and waste characteristic data, and using a mass balance method following Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines. For the first two methods, CO₂ and O₂ concentrations were measured continuously from 24 to 86 days. The O₂ conversion method in comparison to the direct CO₂ measurement method had a 4.8% mean difference in daily CO₂ emissions for four incinerators where analyzed waste composition data were available. However, the IPCC method had a higher difference of 13% relative to the direct CO₂ measurement method. For three incinerators using designed values for waste composition, the O₂ conversion and IPCC methods in comparison to the direct CO₂ measurement method had mean differences of 7.5% and 89%, respectively. Therefore, the use of O₂ concentration data measured for monitoring air pollutant emissions is an effective method for estimating CO₂ emissions resulting from waste incineration.