Claiming-based allocation for waste-to-energy in district heating
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Purpose
Waste-to-energy poses a challenge in life cycle assessment (LCA) due to the need to allocate emissions between the product system that generates and manages the waste and the one that utilizes the recovered energy. The revised European Performance of Buildings Directive mandates that all new construction projects quantify life cycle emissions, yet modelling choices for waste-to-energy in district heat remain debated. We propose a claiming-based allocation method designed to support the implementation of environmental policy.
Methods
We first mapped existing allocation methods for waste-to-energy in scientific literature, frameworks and standards. Second, we assessed how these methods affect the quantified climate impact of district heat in two Norwegian case cities. Third, we developed a novel claiming-based allocation method, which uses the environmental burdens from an alternative reference system of separate production to calculate partitioning coefficients. The method balances three key stakeholder claims based on net environmental effects of waste-to-energy and building energy efficiency measures, and is described using mathematical notations. Finally, we applied the method to both case cities under varying background conditions, including waste composition, alternative waste treatment, carbon capture and storage, separate heat production and building energy efficiency gaps.
Results and discussion
The results highlight how modelling choices influence the emission intensity of district heat and how the multifunctionality problem can be addressed to promote environmental policy. The environmental performance of waste-to-energy compared to decentralized heat pumps is highly sensitive to allocation methods, technological performance and waste composition. In cases where waste-to-energy is environmentally beneficial, a clear trade-off emerges between preserving its environmental competitiveness and reinforcing incentives for building energy efficiency. Our findings show that the proposed claiming-based allocation method can help ensure correct incentives in LCA, thereby supporting more effective implementation of environmental policy.
Conclusions
Our main message is that waste-to-energy for district heat used in buildings presents a sensitive multifunctionality problem. When solved through partitioning, there are risks of incorrect incentives and deliberately favouring specific stakeholder interests. We recommend claiming-based allocation as a partitioning solution when assessments are intended to support environmental policy.
