Solid waste management is currently a major issue worldwide with numerous areas reaching critical levels. Many developing countries and countries in transition still miss basic waste management infrastructure and awareness. It is here that many of the solid waste management problems and challenges are currently being faced. As such, waste-to-energy (WTE) consists of a proven and continuously developing spectrum and range of technologies in a number of (mostly) developed countries. However, it's integration in developing countries and systems in transition is often faced with scepticism and a complex set of barriers which are quite unique and differ greatly from those where WTE has been validated and applied over the years. Waste-to-Energy: Opportunities and Challenges for Developing and Transition Economies will address this issue both theoretically and using concrete examples, including:

· contributions from numerous scholars and practitioners in the field,

· useful lessons and rules of thumb,

· both successful and failed cases, and

· real-life examples and developments.

Waste-to-Energy approaches this dynamic aspect of environmental engineering and management in a methodical and detailed manner making it an important resource for SWM planners and facility operators as well as undergraduate and post graduate students and researchers.

Inhalt

1. Waste-to-Materials the longterm option.- 2. Planning Tools and Procedures for Rational Municipal Solid Wastes Management.- 3. A Methodological Framework for Integrating Waste Biomass into a Portfolio of Thermal Energy Production Systems.- 4. Modeling Waste Characteristics and WTE Plants as a Tool for Optimum Operation Conditions.- 5. Anaerobic Digestion of Waste.- 6. Use of cement kilns for managing hazardous waste in developing countries.- 7. Thermodynamic Approach to Design and Optimization of Biomass Gasifier Utilizing Agro-Residues.- 8. Decisions under uncertainty in Municipal Solid Waste cogeneration investments.- 9. Waste management in Greece and potential for Waste-to-Energy.- 10. Incineration of municipal solid waste in the Baltic States: influencing factors and perspectives.- 11. Waste-to-Energy in Eastern and South Eastern Europe.- 12. Energy from Biomass in Mauritius: Overview of Research and Applications.- 13. Potential of municipal solid waste in Hanoi for energy utilization.- 14. Waste to energy in Brazil.- 15. The ambiguous relation between waste incineration and waste prevention.