Considering Waste Generation in the Energy Sector during the Transition to a Circular Economy
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Brief Review of Waste Management Practices on Energy Facilities
3. Results and Discussion
- To more accurately predict the environmental costs of the project—despite the insignificant amount of waste generation in the I and II phases of project implementation in comparison with the III phase, the organization will still bear the costs of handling them (collection, sorting, disposal, payment for the services of third-party organizations, etc.);
- To increase the accuracy of the formation of cash flows of an investment project by including additional environmental costs in them and the effectiveness of the economic efficiency evaluation;
- To increase the informativeness of the environmental assessment of an investment project by considering waste generation more comprehensively at all stages of its implementation—often, the generation of man-made waste at the stage of elimination of an energy facility (completion of an investment project) is not taken into account, despite their significant volume and, in some cases, a high hazard class;
- To make a more complete accounting of waste generation at energy enterprises—the generation of all types of waste and the costs of handling them will be reflected in the cash flows of the investment project;
- To simplify the calculation of environmental indicators without losing the objectivity of the results obtained, only man-made waste that has a significant negative impact on the environment will be taken into account.
4. Materials and Methods
5. Conclusions
- The formation of all types of waste and the potential costs of handling them are taken into account, which contributes to a more accurate formation of project cash flows;
- The costs of man-made waste management at the elimination stage or during the reconstruction of an energy facility are laid down, which are usually not taken into account in the process of developing a project and conducting its environmental and economic assessment;
- The problem of unaccounted costs at all stages of the energy project implementation is being solved—responsibility for all types of waste generated and their negative impact on the environment falls entirely on the energy company;
- Improvement of the procedure for environmental and economic efficiency assessment of the energy investment project—for the calculation of environmental indicators, only man-made waste that has the greatest negative impact on the environment will be considered, the formation of other types of waste and the costs of handling them will be reflected in environmental costs that are included in the cash flows of the project—thus, most of the waste is taken into account when assessing the project efficiency.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Year | 2016 | 2018 | 2020 (2021) 1 |
---|---|---|---|
Total production waste generation, thousand tons | |||
Russia | 5,350,102 | 7,167,738 | 8,282,729 |
EU | 1,759,210 | 1,804,540 | 1,611,610 |
Production waste generation in gas, steam, and air conditioning supply industry, thousand tons | |||
Russia | 20,509 | 20,105 | 18,696 |
EU | 76,800 | 78,370 | 49,970 |
The share of the sector in the total volume of waste generation, % | |||
Russia | 0.38% | 0.28% | 0.23% |
EU | 4.37% | 4.34% | 3.10% |
Type of Energy Facility | Waste Generation from Fuel Consumption | Waste Generation during Operation | Decommissioning Waste |
---|---|---|---|
Thermal Power Plant (Coal) |
|
|
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Thermal Power Plant (Fuel oil) |
|
|
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Thermal Power Plant (Natural gas) |
|
|
|
Hydro Power Plant | - |
|
|
Wind Power Plant | - |
|
|
Solar Photovoltaics | - |
|
|
Type of Waste | Recommended Practices |
---|---|
Solid waste |
|
Ash and slag waste |
|
Construction waste |
|
Electronic waste |
|
Investment Project Stage/Type of Energy Facility | Pre-Investment Stage (I) | Investment Stage (II) | Operational Stage (III) | Elimination Stage (IV) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Thermal Power Plant (Coal) |
|
|
|
|
Thermal Power Plant (Fuel oil) |
|
|
|
|
Thermal Power Plant (Natural gas) |
|
|
|
|
Hydropower Power Plant |
|
|
|
|
Wind Power Plant |
|
|
|
|
Solar Photovoltaics |
|
|
|
|
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Karaeva, A.; Magaril, E. Considering Waste Generation in the Energy Sector during the Transition to a Circular Economy. Recycling 2023, 8, 42. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling8020042
Karaeva A, Magaril E. Considering Waste Generation in the Energy Sector during the Transition to a Circular Economy. Recycling. 2023; 8(2):42. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling8020042
Chicago/Turabian StyleKaraeva, Anzhelika, and Elena Magaril. 2023. "Considering Waste Generation in the Energy Sector during the Transition to a Circular Economy" Recycling 8, no. 2: 42. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling8020042
APA StyleKaraeva, A., & Magaril, E. (2023). Considering Waste Generation in the Energy Sector during the Transition to a Circular Economy. Recycling, 8(2), 42. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling8020042