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Quiz about WastetoEnergy
Quiz about WastetoEnergy

Waste-to-Energy Trivia Quiz


The amount of municipal waste produced every day is still growing. Containing among others plastics and biomass, it is a source of energy. This is a quiz on turning waste to energy.

A multiple-choice quiz by Laujan. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
Laujan
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
279,768
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
2106
Last 3 plays: bakeryfarm (7/10), violinsoldier (3/10), Guest 172 (7/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. In most countries around the world, municipal solid waste is put into landfills. In some countries, among others the Netherlands, Germany and recently the United Kingdom, land filling is prohibited or discouraged. Why? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. In the Netherlands in the seventies, the "ladder of Lansink" was developed. This is a list of ways to treat waste in order of preference. Which of the following orders is the order of the ladder of Lansink, keeping in mind that it starts with the most preferable waste handling method. Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. What is the most common way of generating energy from municipal solid waste? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Now, let's focus on the incineration of waste. If you look into an industrial waste incinerator in operation, what do you see? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Is the energy generated with the incineration of municipal solid waste considered renewable energy? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Some environmental organisations have remarks on the environmental friendliness of waste-to-energy plants. What is considered a problem? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. What substance is typically formed during the incineration of waste, along with compounds like CO2, SOx, NOx and HCL? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. What is an important difference between electricity producing waste-to-energy plants and power plants? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. The efficiency of a waste-to-energy plant is 20 - 30 %. Efficiency = produced useful energy divided by energy in fuel. What methods are used to increase the efficiency of waste-to-energy plants? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. The incineration of waste produces flue gases and ashes. The flue gases are cleaned and exhausted to the atmosphere. What is done with the ashes and flue gas cleaning residues? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Oct 11 2024 : bakeryfarm: 7/10
Sep 18 2024 : violinsoldier: 3/10
Sep 06 2024 : Guest 172: 7/10
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Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In most countries around the world, municipal solid waste is put into landfills. In some countries, among others the Netherlands, Germany and recently the United Kingdom, land filling is prohibited or discouraged. Why?

Answer: All these reasons play a role

The prohibition of landfills is maintained by placing a fine on landfills that is higher than the cost of handling the waste in different ways.
2. In the Netherlands in the seventies, the "ladder of Lansink" was developed. This is a list of ways to treat waste in order of preference. Which of the following orders is the order of the ladder of Lansink, keeping in mind that it starts with the most preferable waste handling method.

Answer: prevention of waste production, recycling, combustion, landfill

In the 2002 - 2012 National Waste Control Plan of the Netherlands; the Ladder has been refined to the following:
- quantitative prevention: prevention of production of waste
- qualitative prevention: during production materials are used that have the least negative environmental impact when the product becomes waste
- recycling of products
- recycling of materials
- combustion with energy generation
- combustion without energy generation
- landfill
3. What is the most common way of generating energy from municipal solid waste?

Answer: Incineration

Anaerobe digestion is done with wet organic waste, like manure. Bacteria produce biogas (ca. 70% methane) from the organic matter in an environment without oxygen.

During composting of waste, bacteria digest the organic matter in an environment with oxygen and produce mainly CO2. This method does not generate energy.
4. Now, let's focus on the incineration of waste. If you look into an industrial waste incinerator in operation, what do you see?

Answer: A cosy yellow fire, like in a fireplace

Not only is there a looking glass in the incinerator, there are cameras as well, so the operators in the control room can keep an eye on the fire.
5. Is the energy generated with the incineration of municipal solid waste considered renewable energy?

Answer: Around half of the energy produced is considered renewable, since around half of the waste is organic matter.

In the Netherlands municipal solid waste is stated to have 47% organic matter. Therefore, for 47% of the electricity produced from the waste, a waste incinerator company can receive a subsidy for renewable energy production.
6. Some environmental organisations have remarks on the environmental friendliness of waste-to-energy plants. What is considered a problem?

Answer: During waste incineration, harmful substances are released.

The flue gas cleaning equipment takes up around two thirds of the volume of the plant, all in order to make sure that the flue gases are clean, before they are released to the environment.
7. What substance is typically formed during the incineration of waste, along with compounds like CO2, SOx, NOx and HCL?

Answer: Dioxins

Dioxins can be highly toxic. President Yushchenko of the Ukraine was poisoned with dioxins in 2004.
8. What is an important difference between electricity producing waste-to-energy plants and power plants?

Answer: Even if no electricity can be supplied to the public grid, the plant stays in operation.

Waste-to-energy plants receive a handling fee for the waste. In the Netherlands in normal operation 75% - 80% of the turnover is from the waste handling fee and only 20% - 25% from the sale of electricity. So, even if no electricity can be sold, turnover is made by incinerating the waste. In such cases, a small part of the energy produced by the incineration is still used to generate electricity for own consumption, the rest of the energy is cooled away to the air.

In coal or gas fired power plants, one has to pay for the fuel, so if no electricity can be sold, there is no use to keep the plant in operation.
9. The efficiency of a waste-to-energy plant is 20 - 30 %. Efficiency = produced useful energy divided by energy in fuel. What methods are used to increase the efficiency of waste-to-energy plants?

Answer: All of these methods increase the efficiency.

Using a water cooled condenser, instead of an air cooled condenser to condense the exhaust steam from the steam turbine can improve the overall efficiency with almost 2%. This is due to the fact that the yearly average temperature of surface water is lower than of the ambient air.

Therefore a steam turbine with a water cooled condenser can reach a lower exhaust pressure and temperature and in this way produce more electricity.
10. The incineration of waste produces flue gases and ashes. The flue gases are cleaned and exhausted to the atmosphere. What is done with the ashes and flue gas cleaning residues?

Answer: A large part of the ashes and residues is used in construction works.

The part of the ashes and residues that has to be land filled is approximately 1 - 2 mass-percent. It often has hazardous compounds, which is the reason it can't be used for ground elevation in construction works. Sometimes it needs extra handling before landfill.
Source: Author Laujan

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
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