Thermo-Chemical Waste Treatment Technologies Facilitate Sustainable Fuel Generation

Description

Integrating TCWT Solutions into Industrial Processes Produces Specialty Chemicals and Fuels While Significantly Reducing Carbon Emissions

Globally, exponential population growth, rampant consumerism, and economic development are the major drivers of waste generation. The World Bank estimates that waste generation is going to increase from about 2.3 billion tons per year by 2023 to 3.4 billion tons per year by 2050. Out of the 2.3 billion tons of waste produced in 2023, as much as 33 % will be mismanaged through open dumping in landfills, water bodies, and oceans, which will negatively impact both human health and the environment.

Current waste-to-energy (WtE) facilities based predominantly on incineration are subjected to major scrutiny of their non-adherence to regulatory waste emission guidelines, as they release a significant volume of toxic gases, such as dioxins, furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and other particulate matter, into the atmosphere. Globally, governments are shutting down several incineration facilities that do not comply with emission directives. This leaves a lot of scope for the installation of efficient waste valorization technologies to ensure sustainability and circularity while complying to stringent guidelines.

It is therefore necessary to use of thermo-chemical waste treatment (TCWT) technologies such as plasma gasification, gasification, pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction, and torrefaction for efficient conversion of waste into secondary raw materials while ensuring compliance with industry emission directives.

Additionally, emissions-intensive industries are integrating post-treatment technologies based on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, gas fermentation, and Haber Bosch processes with TCWT technologies to produce specialty chemicals and other low-carbon fuels to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The study covers the following topics:

Overview of TCWT technologies, current trends, and factors driving the development and adoption of them

Major stakeholders in the TCWT technology landscape

Techno-economic analysis of TCWT technologies

Patent landscape and growth opportunities enabling TCWT technologies

Product Code: DA9C

Strategic Imperatives

Why Is It Increasingly Difficult to Grow?The Strategic Imperative 8™: Factors Creating Pressure on Growth
The Strategic Imperative 8™
The Impact of the Top 3 Strategic Imperatives on the Thermo-chemical Waste Treatment (TCWT) Industry
Growth Opportunities Fuel the Growth Pipeline Engine™
Research Methodology

Growth Opportunity Analysis

Scope of Analysis
Growth Drivers
Growth Restraints
Segmentation
TCWT Technology Value Chain

TCWT: Technology Analysis

Gasification Enables Thermal Breakdown of Waste into Syngas Used as a Raw Material to Produce Specialty Chemicals
Plasma Gasification Operates at Higher Temperatures than Gasification to Convert All Types of Waste into Highly Pure Syngas
Pyrolysis Converts Waste into Pyrolytic Oil in the Absence of Oxygen at Much Lower Temperatures than Gasification
Hydrothermal Liquefaction Is Ideal for the Thermal Breakdown of Wet Waste while Significantly Reducing Operational Costs
Torrefaction Is an Ideal Pre-treatment Step for Other TCWT Technologies to Increase Product Yield
Comparative Analysis of TCWT Technologies
FT Synthesis Widely Integrated with TCWT Technologies to Produce Renewable Chemicals and Fuels
Noteworthy FT Synthesis-based Waste-to-Liquid Projects Under Development

Innovation Ecosystem

Pyrolysis-based Chemical Recycling for the Conversion of Mixed Plastic Waste into Feedstock Used to Produce New Plastics
Patented Catalytic Hydrothermal Liquefaction Process for the Conversion of Biomass and Plastic Waste into Fuels and Chemicals
Important Players in Pyrolysis and HTL Generating Renewable Fuels and Chemicals
Important Players in Gasification, Plasma Gasification, and Torrefaction Generating Renewable Fuels and Chemicals

Growth Analysis

Gasification Provides a Carbon-negative Waste Treatment Pathway
Further Technological Advancements Needed to Achieve Cost Parity with Fossil Fuel-based Chemical Production
China Leads the TCWT Patent Landscape
Developed Economies Are Dominating the Funding Ecosystem

Growth Opportunity Universe

Growth Opportunity 1: Integration of Waste Valorization Technologies into Textile and Fragrance Value Chain
Growth Opportunity 2: Biomass Waste Valorization for Sustainable Agricultural Practices
Growth Opportunity 3: Digitization and Infrastructure Development for Closed-loop Waste Recovery Systems

Appendix

Technology Readiness Level (TRL): Explanation

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