1. Sustainable Alternatives In generating power for chemical plants

2. Commonly Used Technologies Fuels – Coal Main fuel used in electric power generation Low cost, high availability Combustion releases emissions that are responsible for acid rain and contributes to climate change – Oil – Natural Gas Cheaper and more available than in past due to unconventional drilling

3. Commonly Used Technologies Fuel used in boilers to heat water and generate steam http://www.mpoweruk.com/steam_turbines.htm

4. Alternative: Recycle Waste to Energy http://www.covantaenergy.com/what-we-do/energy-from-waste.aspx Waste delivered to facilities Waste to combustion chamber Heat from combustion boils water Steam generated moves turbine Electricity generated and distributed

5. Example: Dow Chemical Company Use recycled plastic to generate energy – Ultimate end of life option instead of going straight to landfill 96% available energy recovered after incinerating 578 lbs Recovered energy equivalent to 11.1 million BTU of natural gas

6. Alternative: Biogas http://www.ashden.org/biogas 50 – 80% Methane 20 – 50% Carbon Dioxide with traces of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen

7. Example: BASF BASF clean gas from waste Uses biogas-obtained by fermenting domestic waste, plants or sewage sludge Gas generated contains 50-70% useful methane, and the rest is carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide Process needs to purify methane from gas mix since hydrogen sulfide is corrosive

8. Instead of purchasing energy from utilities, chemical plants can be more sustainable and save money by generating all or part of the energy needed to operate Use waste to generate energy – Municipal waste, production waste, organic waste Optimize use of materials and energy via recycling

9. Works Cited J.M. Beér, “Combustion technology developments in power generation in response to environmental challenges”, Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, Volume 26, Issues 4–6, August 2000, Pages 301-327, ISSN 0360-1285, 10.1016/S0360-1285(00)00007-1. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360128500000071)http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360128500000071 “Dow Makes Energy from Recycled Plastic,” May 2011, http://www.businesswire.com/news/dow/20110523005585/en, accessed on January 31, 2012. http://www.businesswire.com/news/dow/20110523005585/en “Biogas-Clean Gas from Waste,” n.d., http://www.basf.com/group/pressrelease/P-12-317, accessed on January 31, 2012. http://www.basf.com/group/pressrelease/P-12-317 U.S. Department of Energy, Renewable Natural Gas (Biogas), available at http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/emerging_biogas.html, accessed on March 21, 2013. http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/emerging_biogas.html