End-of-Life Material Waste Quantification and Management for Renewable Energy Capacity Additions in Pakistan By Muhammad Ahsan

Abstract

Renewable energy is leading the path to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. Global warming is a serious threat to the environment and renewable energy can minimize the contribution of the power sector’s contribution. Increased capacity of renewables comes with the increased waste of solar panel and wind turbines. There is a limited understanding of the mechanisms and infrastructure needed to ensure the sound disposal of renewable products. End-of-life analysis for renewable energy is important to establish safe and economical waste management practices. End-of- life practices will aid to reduce the environmental impact of renewables. Glass, steel, Al and EVA are the major components of PV module waste while glass, ceramic, steel and iron materials are the major components of wind turbine waste. Pakistan lacks waste disposal policies for renewables as adopted by other developed countries to minimize the harmful impacts. The aim of this thesis is the quantification of end-of-life renewable waste production as a result of capacity addition according to the Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) 2047 of Pakistan. The total installed capacity for solar energy will reach 1965.5 MW by the end of 2028 for Pakistan. 1 MW of capacity addition will add 17.42 m3 of end-of-life solar waste. By the end of 2053, the total solar waste will be 34,239.89 m3. Pakistan will have a total of 3744.3 MW of installed wind energy by the end of 2025. According to the future projection, a total of 463,109.49 tons of wind turbine end-of-life waste will be generated by the end of 2050. Renewable waste materials are quantified, and future projections are made based on capacity addition and installation scenarios for Pakistan. Recommendations for waste management planning and strategies are discussed for recycling technologies used globally for end-of-life renewable energy waste. The most suitable and successful techniques for Pakistan to recycle and recover valuable materials are thermal and mechanical treatments