The shocking statistics on electricity access and poor waste management system have been crucial challenges in Sierra Leone that motivated this study on Waste-to-Energy (WtE), a concept of utilising the energy potential of waste to produce heat, electricity and biogas. It is an alternative means of electricity generation capable of gradually reducing the need for waste disposal on uncontrolled dumpsites [1]. Various methods of converting MSW into energy are used depending on energy requirement, waste availability, composition and characteristics, but they are all based on two fundamental principles; firstly, by burning waste to generate heat that is used to convert water into steam, which drives a steam turbine to produce electricity, which is also referred to as a thermochemical process, and secondly by converting waste into gas or biofuel, referred to as a biochemical process [2]. MSW in this context refers to the waste collected from households, public institution, schools, and commercial premises that are disposed of on dumpsites excluding human feces [3]. Energy production in Sierra Leone has been focused mainly on electricity generation from fossil fuels, solar and hydro power plants for lighting up homes, commercial institutions and some industries, but there has not been any waste-to-energy facility.

The need for sustainable means of producing energy to meet the growing energy demand around the world has attracted research interests on the energy potentials of various kinds of waste, and there have been growing interests in recovering the energy potentials from MSW, which has been considered as an effective way of reducing residual waste, with the added benefit of providing renewable energy to supplement conventional supplies [4]. Although there have been efforts in conducting research on WtE potentials in Africa, article publications and grey literature that have focused on the same in Sierra Leone are almost non-existent. This absence of literature on waste-to-energy in Sierra Leone motivated this study, which sets to contribute to our understanding of how waste could be utilised to improve electricity generation capacity in Freetown and how WtE could gradually eliminate the need for uncontrolled dumpsites in the capital city. This could be the first evidence-based research to focus entirely on utilising waste resources to complement other sources of grid electricity in Sierra Leone that could raise awareness for energy stakeholders to focus on WtE for the improvement of the country’s energy sector. The scope of this paper was to assess the MSW situation in Freetown in terms of volume and composition and to determine how much energy could be recovered from it on a daily basis. Freetown was chosen because it is the capital city of Sierra Leone, where uncontrolled waste disposal has damaged its aesthetic value much to the inconvenience of its inhabitants. Freetown also experiences irregular electricity supply that has been forcing businesses and public institutions to always prepare for power cuts and rationing of electricity supply.

Limited access to energy is not only an obstacle to industrialization; it also reduces attraction to local and foreign investment, and severely affect productivity, educationally and economically. The World Bank Sustainable Energy for All database on access to electricity revealed that only about 23.4% of Sierra Leone’s population has access to grid electricity [5], one of the worst in the world, and the 2019 Energy Progress Report revealed that less than 10% of Sierra Leone’s population have access to clean cooking fuels and technologies [6]. About 80% of the energy supply in Sierra Leone comes from biomass, but consumed through inefficient burning of mainly firewood and charcoal for cooking [7]. According to the 2015 population and housing census, 64.7% of households rely on firewood for cooking, 32.1% uses charcoal while the other sources including gas, kerosene, electricity, etc. account for only 3.2% [8].

A major challenge in addressing limited access to electricity is the lack of commitment in utilising alternative energy sources that are also environmentally friendly to diversify our energy sector, one of such resource is Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW). This lack of commitment is directly linked with weak and ineffective energy and environmental policies that could lead to research and development towards alternative sources of energy. In 2013, it was recorded that about 900 - 1000 metric ton of unsorted waste was generated in Freetown per day, but only about 40% was collected and disposed in two recognised but uncontrolled dumpsites [9]. The waste collected and disposed on these dumpsites will accumulate and eventually lead to environmental degradation through the release of contaminants including greenhouse gases.

The energy potential of a fuel is a measure of its Calorific Value [10] ; the amount of energy released in Joules (J) from the combustion of a unit weight of waste, measured in J/kg [11]. Thus, the Lower Calorific Value (LCV) and not the Higher Calorific Value (HCV) is required to determine the energy potential of MSW because waste develops HCV if the latent heat of steam is recovered as in calorimeter experiments, but for normal combustion, the LCV is obtained because the latent heat is lost when water leaves as steam. The calorific value is influenced by waste composition and characteristics such as moisture and combustible content, as shown in Table 1, which makes the energy potential vary from one country to another. For the MSW to be suitable for combustion the overall LCV should always be at least between 6 - 7 MJ/kg [12]. In the case of coal fuel, a typical value is approximately 30 MJ/kg while for oil; the value is about 40 MJ/kg. These values can be compared with that for MSW of about 10 MJ/kg, which has increased about 20% since the early 1970s, because of factors such as the decreasing quantity of ash in the waste from coal fires, and the increasing

proportion of dry packing material [10]. Table 1 shows the typical ash and water free CVs (Hawf) of solid waste components, and Equation (1) shows how the LCV is calculated when Hawf is known [12]. Equation (1) shows that the LCV increases with increase in the combustible fraction and decreases if the moisture content increases. Maintaining the LCV is therefore crucial in ensuring a stable energy output.

Analysis by [12] and [13] produced results that show the typical theoretical energy potential of 1 kg of various components of MSW as shown in Table 1. For every 1kg of food and organic waste, 0.718 kWh of electrical energy could be produced, which will amount to 17.24 kWh per day (24 hours). Assuming the average consumption of homes in Freetown is 6 kWh per day, this could provide the electricity needs of a home for about three (3) days.

H l o w = H a w f ∗ C − 2445 ∗ W ( kJ / kg ) (1)

H_low: LCV.

H_awf: Ash and water free C.

C: Combustible fraction.

W: Moisture content.

Different studies have produced various estimates of the energy potentials of MSW. Reference [14] assessed the waste-to-energy potential in middle income countries of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by evaluating multiple waste management scenarios involving incineration and anaerobic digestion, in which the average Lower Heating Value was estimated at 14.2 MJ/kg, giving an energy potential of 597 kWh per ton of incinerated waste by total mass-burning, while for the incineration by non-recyclable mass-burning scenario, the energy potential was about 545 kWh per ton of incinerated waste. The estimated energy potential was higher in a study conducted by [15], in which mathematical models were used to estimate the energy recovery and biogas generation potentials and concluded that, by thermochemical processes, the estimated energy potential was 5970 kWh per ton of MSW, and 62 kWh per ton of MSW by using biochemical processes. An assessment at the African level revealed that the electricity production potential from the total waste generated in Africa was 62.5 TWh in 2012 and could increase up to 122.2 TWh in 2025, but by considering the actual waste collected, the potential was estimated at 34.1 TWh in 2012 and projected to reach 83.8 TWh in 2025 [16].

Despite the differences in energy potentials estimated by various studies, some of which were cited above, there is an indication that energy from waste could be an integral part of the energy mix in Africa. The barriers that hinder the adoption of WtE technologies have been discussed extensively in literature, and according to [17], “the critical barriers are poor institutional framework and infrastructure, weak environmental policies, inadequate planning policies, non-implementation of existing policies, and lack of coordination and linkages in WtE programs”. Other key issues are high initial capital cost of installation and lack of skilled human resource. According to a review by [17], important lessons for successful WtE programs have been categorized under four principal areas: enacting energy and environmental policies, rolling out economic and financial policies, and promoting research and development. Reference [18] asserted that the commitment of governments and their ministries/agencies in charge of energy, agriculture, science, technology, environment and local government are of the utmost importance to the promotion of WtE projects in Africa, by making proper long-term objectives with appropriate planning and strategies for WtE development on the continent [19].

WtE by combustion has been the focus of this study because it has proven to be a suitable alternative to the use of conventional fossil fuels to generate heat and electricity [3] in a good number of European countries since the end of the nineteenth century, and is capable of reducing waste volume by 90% [12]. In a review of municipal solid waste-to-energy trends in the USA by [20], it was highlighted that there are regional contrasts on technology adoption, unique challenges of each technology, commonly used decision support tools, and major operators, and only about 13% of MSW is used for energy recovery and 53% is landfilled. Nonetheless, it was concluded that adoption of thermal WTE technologies in US could continue to increase, albeit slowly, in coastal and urban areas lacking suitable lands for new landfills. There are about 492 WtE plants operating in Europe not including harzadous waste incineration plants, thermally treating about 96 million metric ton of waste, with the leaders being France with 126 WtE plants, Germany, 96, UK, 40, Italy, 39, and Sweden, 34, etc. [21]. According to United Nations Environment, the amount of waste incinerated for energy recovery represents about 25% of MSW generated in Europe [22], but this number of WtE plants in Europe is expected to increase as the search for alternatives to fossil fuel-based energy intensifies. In Africa, a 500-metric ton per day of MSW biogas facility was opened in South Africa in January 2017, which has been referred to as the first major WtE facility in Africa [23], and in Ethiopia, a 50 MW WtE facility has commenced operation in 2018, converting about 80% of the city’s waste that would have otherwise ended up on uncontrolled dumpsites into electricity to provide the electricity needs of 30% of households in Addis Ababa [22]. There has also been some commitment demonstrated in some African countries through ongoing research and development work for the establishment of WtE by combustion facilities.

To this end, as Sierra Leone has struggled for a stable economy, proper waste management system, and stability in electricity supply, it is important to find a cheaper and more reliable means of generating electricity. Energy from waste will not only increase the electricity generation capacity in Sierra Leone, it will provide the much-needed waste management solution in Freetown, and will contribute to the development of a circular economy system [24]. A system wherein resources are kept in use for as long as possible, their maximum value extracted, and then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of their service life [25], as opposed to the make, use and dispose or linear economy system.

This study was motivated by the need to address two main problems affecting the people of Freetown, which are unreliable supply of electricity and uncontrolled waste disposal. The result of the study indicating that the waste generated in Freetown is enough and suitable to serve as sustainable fuel for a WtE facility is significant because by investing in this technology these two ageing problems could be solved in a very unique and sustainable manner. There have been some studies on waste recycling in Sierra Leone but there has not been significant academic research on converting waste into energy. Although there has been some private enterprise development in this area, the result of this study is significant because it could be essential in influencing policies and regulations that could lead to more investment in waste-to-energy technologies in the country.

The study revealed that enough waste is generated in Freetown with an LCV of 6.37 MJ/kg, which makes it suitable for waste-to-energy conversion. This is because the LCV is required to be between 6 and 7 MJ/kg to be suitable for waste-to-energy recovery by combustion according to [12]. Nonetheless, a key

reason for our energy challenges is the lack of commitment by the government to invest in research and development in waste management and energy recovery, and to enact existing policies and formulate new policies that will encourage diversification of the energy mix. Comprehensive energy policies will encourage private and community involvement in the development of the energy sector and suitable environmental policies will help people understand the environmental benefits of transforming their wastes into wealth. This paper has laid a foundation for further research that could lead to the implementation of WtE technologies in urban areas of Sierra Leone, and has also provided reasons for research into the effect of energy and environmental policies on the improvement of access to electricity and keeping our environment clean.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Ngegba, A.O. and Bertin, A.J. (2020) Assessment of the Energy Potential of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Open Access Library Journal, 7: e5902. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1105902