Municipal solid waste as a source of energy

Due to rapid movement of rural population to new regions and countries in order to find work and for better living conditions, population growth and economic development, there is gradual increase in production of waste and demand of electricity worldwide. According to World Bank statistics, the global Municipal Solid Waste generated was 1.3 billion tons in year 2012 and this is expected to increase above 2.2 billion tons per year by 2025. Due to lack of sites for waste disposal, it has become a serious environmental as well as health issue. Now various methods have been adopted for waste disposal. Among this, energy accessed from municipal solid waste is the most common practice adopted by developing countries. In addition, Waste to Energy and Energy from Waste technologies are used which include thermal and biological technologies. Gasification, pyrolysis and incineration are thermal technologies used in conversion of waste to energy. During these processes, syngas is produced which is used in combustion engine or turbines to generate electricity. Apart from this, biomethanation is also used in which biogas is produced. In this review article, we have discussed all the environmental and green methods used for the generation of energy from Municipal Solid Waste their advantages and drawbacks.