Two types of potential fuels (cardboard and wood) are presently a major part of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) stream, and comprise approximately 45.8% of all MSW composition (1). These green energy fuels are organic in origin and renewable in nature; therefore, they are carbon-cycle neutral, i. e., since they are composed of former living plant tissue, when used as fuel for heat or converted to alcohol fuel for electric generation, they do not add to greenhouse gasses or carcinogens to the environment. The carbon dioxide that is emitted is used by the next generation of growing plants to store energy; therefore, the carbon cycle is stabilized through their use. Petroleum fuels add carbon dioxide to the cycle, which has been sequestered and removed from the cycle for millennia.

Procedure

Wood and cardboard will be removed from the waste stream at the source. The project will utilize nonrecyclable cardboard and wood as direct combustible fuel. Compressed, baled, and placed on a pallet for ease of handling, nonrecyclable cardboard and other solid combustibles will be fed directly into a specially designed outdoor furnace that generates 1,000,000 BTUs per hour. Ash generated is rich in boron, an element normally deficient in New England soils. It will be incorporated into compost.

Potential Savings

As an example of the potential savings to be realized from utilizing these two forms of MSW, the BTUs in just one 500-pound bale of cardboard (at 8200 BTUs/lb) are equal to the BTUs in 29.7 gallons of #2 home heating oil (at 138,000 BTUs/gallon). Given the fact that one barrel (42 gallons) of crude oil only yields 9.2 gallons of home heating oil or diesel (2), the savings from using one ton of cardboard is the equivalent heating oil yield from 12.92 barrels of crude oil. There are approximately 7500 BTUs in one pound of wood. Given the above informa­tion, the project will be a net reducer of MSW that will contribute to the overall reduction of landfill mass.