Comparative assessment of radiocarbon and balance method for determining biogenic and fossil CO2 emissions from waste-to-energy plants in Austria and China

Key Points

• To compare radiocarbon and balance methods for determining biogenic and fossil CO2 emissions in waste-to-energy plants in Austria and China.
• Conducted a comparative assessment of radiocarbon (14C) and balance methods in Austrian and Chinese waste-to-energy plants.
• Evaluated consistency between methods across various waste compositions and regions.
• Proposed a hybrid approach for improved CO2 reporting transparency.
• Both methods showed high consistency in measuring CO2 emissions across different waste types.
• Balance Method provided continuous monitoring, enabling detection of implausible data effectively.
• A hybrid approach was suggested for transparent and harmonized CO2 reporting in waste-to-energy systems.