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Abundance of 14C in biomass fractions of wastes and solid recovered fuels
- Source :
- Waste Management. 29:1495-1503
- Publication Year :
- 2009
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2009.
-
Abstract
- In recent years thermal utilization of mixed wastes and solid recovered fuels has become of increasing importance in European waste management. Since wastes or solid recovered fuels are generally composed of fossil and biogenic materials, only part of the CO(2) emissions is accounted for in greenhouse gas inventories or emission trading schemes. A promising approach for determining this fraction is the so-called radiocarbon method. It is based on different ratios of the carbon isotopes (14)C and (12)C in fossil and biogenic fuels. Fossil fuels have zero radiocarbon, whereas biogenic materials are enriched in (14)C and reflect the (14)CO(2) abundance of the ambient atmosphere. Due to nuclear weapons tests in the past century, the radiocarbon content in the atmosphere has not been constant, which has resulted in a varying (14)C content of biogenic matter, depending on the period of growth. In the present paper (14)C contents of different biogenic waste fractions (e.g., kitchen waste, paper, wood), as well as mixtures of different wastes (household, bulky waste, and commercial waste), and solid recovered fuels are determined. The calculated (14)C content of the materials investigated ranges between 98 and 135pMC.
- Subjects :
- Paper
Waste Products
Fossil Fuels
Waste management
business.industry
Bulky waste
Fossil fuel
Biomass
Commercial waste
Fraction (chemistry)
Carbon Dioxide
Wood
chemistry.chemical_compound
chemistry
Reference Values
Environmental chemistry
Greenhouse gas
Carbon dioxide
Carbon-14
Carbon Radioisotopes
business
Waste Management and Disposal
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 0956053X
- Volume :
- 29
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Waste Management
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....ede9ea23e4a5d25ba84d68a207134b11