Waste-to-energy and waste-to-hydrogen with CCS: Methodological assessment of pathways to carbon-negative waste treatment from an LCA perspective.

A growing global population and rising living standards are producing ever greater quantities of waste, while at the same time driving ever-larger demand for energy, especially electricity, or new emerging markets, such as hydrogen in more industrialised countries. A key solution to these challenges of waste disposal, rising energy and hydrogen demand is BECCS (Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage); the generation of bioenergy - in the form of electricity (WtE) or hydrogen (WtH), as well as heat - from the thermochemical processing of waste. The addition of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to WtE or WtH has the potential to make waste a zero or even negative emissions energy source, thus contributing to the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.