Although disposing solid waste by incineration greatly reduces the amount of non-recyclable solid waste and generates energy at the same time, it produces carbon dioxide that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
A process called calcium looping can be used to capture carbon dioxide emissions from incineration plants. However, calcium looping is energy intensive and expensive.
According to a model constructed by NTU researchers, using fuels produced from recovered waste and leveraging waste-derived calcium sources can reduce the overall cost of this technology. Carbon credits and taxation that incentivise negative emissions also make calcium looping more economically viable.
