Avaliação do potencial energético da biomassa disposta em lixões do semiárido cearense

Abstract

The management of urban solid waste is one of the greatest challenges of modern society. The constant population increase with little or no control over the generation and treatment of waste brings with it inconveniences such as contamination of natural resources and public health problems. The decomposition of waste affects the emission of CH4 and CO2, both greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, but which are also suitable for electrical processing. This work aims to evaluate the potential for generating gases that can be used for energy use. LandGEM from the US EPA – United States Environmental Protection Agency, a software specialized in estimating landfill gases and similar scenarios, was used to estimate the amount of methane generated in landfills in the municipalities of Varjota, Monsenhor Tabosa and Reriutaba, semi-arid region of the State of Ceará. With the opening year of the dumps varying between 1986 and 1997 and considering the simulation of the closing year in 2021, it is estimated that there would be, in a future scenario, in the year 2022, the peak of methane generation, where the Varjota dump presented a potential of 6,380,860 kWh/year and 531,738 kWh/month, the Monsenhor Tabosa landfill 3471,816 kWh/year and 289,318 kWh/month and the Reriutaba landfill 4,519,875 kWh/year and 376,656 kWh/month. These results demonstrate that there is energy potential in landfills to supply between 1753 and 3223 homes, however, it emphasizes the importance of applying technological methods of recovery from the beginning of reception activities for the mass of urban solid waste, being more suitable for this the use of landfills. Finally, it is concluded that there is energy potential in urban solid waste biomass.