The most commonly used conversion methods – combustion of waste to produce heat or electricity; anaerobic digestion to produce methane for heat or power production etc. all are well-established and commercial technologies. A further set of conversion processes – for example, the production of liquid fuels from cellulosic materials by biological or thermochemical conversion processes, such as pyrolysis – are at earlier stages of commercialisation or still under development.
Industrial solid waste
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SectorsObjective
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SectorsObjective
Total freshwater withdrawals reported for 163 countries by the Pacific Institute showed that in the median country residential water use accounted for 16% of total freshwater withdrawals (Gleick et al., 2006). Therefore, residential conservation efforts can make a strong positive contribution to reducing pressure on water resources. Reducing water use in municipal systems also contributes to climate change mitigation by decreasing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
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SectorsObjective
Under the anaerobic (oxygen free) conditions of landfill sites, organic waste is broken down by micro-organisms, leading to the formation of landfill gas (LFG). LFG is a gaseous mixture which consists mostly of methane and carbon dioxide, but also of a small amount of hydrogen and occasionally trace levels of hydrogen sulphide.
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SectorsObjective
The iron and steel sector is the second-largest industrial user of energy, consuming 616 Mtoe in 2007 and is also the largest industrial source of CO2 emissions. The five most important producers – China, Japan, the United States, the European Union and Russia – account for over 70% of total world steel production. A standard technique that is applied worldwide is the coke wet quenching of coke, where quenching vapors are bunkered before delivery to the atmosphere and subsequently or immediately a condensate is drawn off and cooled further.
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A polymer is a large molecule (macromolecule) composed of repeating structural units typically connected by covalent chemical bonds. Examples of synthetic polymers are plastics, Bakelite and nylon, while rubber, proteins, DNA but also spider-silk are naturally occurring polymers or so-called natural bio-based polymers. Reproducing naturally occurring and/or synthetic polymers based on non renewable fossil feedstocks is common practice in the (petro-) chemical industry.
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SectorsObjective
Cement is a global commodity, manufactured at thousands of plants. The industry is consolidating globally, but large international firms account for only 30% of the worldwide market. The principal and most visible market for cement is the construction industry in a multitude of applications where it is combined with water to make concrete. Most modern civil engineering projects, office buildings, apartments and domestic housing projects use concrete, often in association with steel reinforcement systems.
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SectorsObjective
Cement is a global commodity, manufactured at thousands of plants. The industry is consolidating globally, but large international firms account for only 30% of the worldwide market. The principal and most visible market for cement is the construction industry in a multitude of applications where it is combined with water to make concrete. Most modern civil engineering projects, office buildings, apartments and domestic housing projects use concrete, often in association with steel reinforcement systems.