Assignment 1
Australian Societal Waste as Energy Sources
Part 1 (10%)
Due Date: 12 noon, Monday 11 March (2 weeks to complete)
Submission of wri en pdf document via LMS
Part 2 (25%)
Due Date: 12 noon, Monday 15 April (5 weeks to complete)
Submission of Excel file via LMS
Part 3 (25%)
Due Date: 12 noon, Monday 20 May (5 weeks to complete)
Submission of PowerPoint file or video file (no compression, winzip, 7zip etc) via LMS
Aim:
For the student to appreciate the magnitude of poten-ally useful waste disposed of in
Australia each year, the recoverable energy in that waste, and the emissions that can be
prevented by judicious use of waste products. In addi-on, the student will gain experience in
producing a well targeted brief presenta-on.
Scope:
Western Australia, and the Perth area in par-cular, s-ll produce a large amount of municipal
waste even a2er a significant amount of waste is recycled. Currently about 40% of
household waste (MSW) is (or will soon be) burnt in waste to energy plants located in the
southern suburbs of Perth. This combusted waste is turned into electricity through a
tradi-onal thermal genera-on cycle. The remainder of the MSW will s-ll be diverted to
landfill along with all the current construc-on organic waste and commercial and industrial
organic waste. In total, well over 1 million tonnes of poten-ally useful organic material ends
up in landfill rather than being converted to useful energy products.
Therefore there is a need to consider the best ways to use this waste to produce appropriate
sources of energy.
Part 1
Brief Scoping Report
You are required to produce a brief (500 word maximum, excluding tables) document
detailing, in broad categories, what types of organic waste are available for use in Western
Australia, the amount available, what their current fate is (Energy recovery, recycled or
Landfill/disposal). As this data. A very useful reference to start is the Department of Climate
Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s website
h ps://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/protec-on/waste
h ps://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/protec-on/waste/na-onal-waste-reports/2022
As the data available on the website is from 2022, it does not contain the amount of material
going to the new Energy to Waste plants now opera-ng. Therefore, when accoun-ng for the
amount of available waste material, you should:
a) Assume 40% of MSW Food Organics and 40% of MSW Other Organics are diverted to
the Waste to Energy Plants and not available for further analysis in this report.
b) The amount of recycled material stays the same and does not increase in the future.
c) MSW Garden Organics do not go to the new Waste to Energy Plants.
d) 40% of Plas-c now designated for landfill would go to the Waste to Energy plants, the
rest would s-ll be des-ned for landfill.
e) Rubber Tyre waste is also to be considered (see below).
Australia imports over 500,000 tonnes of vehicle types and un-l recently most of the tyre
waste was exported overseas for processing and disposal/re-use. From 1 December 2021,
export of waste tyres from Australia was banned and therefore all waste tyres now remain in
Australia for disposal or processing. You should consider the amount of tyre waste available
in Western Australia, the amounts available per category (car, truck and Off -the -road /
mining / agriculture ), and the current collec-on rates/amounts for each classifica-on of
tyre.
Your part 1 report should contain a brief introduc-on to the report, followed by the main body
and finally the list of references used. The body should summarise the different types,
amounts and current fate of organic waste produced in Western Australia. Tables would
probably be appropriate to display most of this data.
Part 2
Produc$on of Comprehensive Data Spreadsheet
In part 2, you are required to produce a comprehensive, fully commented, easy to read and
interpret spreadsheet. The aim of the spreadsheet is to show the different types and amounts
of organic waste being disposed of in WA, their energy content and the emissions being
produced by their current fate. Then list the type of waste-to-energy process that you deem
appropriate for the different waste streams, the energy products produced, their amounts
and energy contents, the emissions their usage produces, and the emissions saved by their
use vs the standard fossil fuel that they are replacing. (see example).
All data must be referenced correctly.
Hint: Excluding plas-cs and rubber, all other material would rot in landfill so determine the
amount of greenhouse gas emissions would be produced annually from the landfill waste
(note that organic material degrades into methane not CO2).
Your spreadsheet may have one or mul-ple tabs, may have a front summary sheet, references
may be on each sheet or on a separate sheet but referenced in appropriate places. It is
important that the spreadsheet is completely followable by someone looking at it without any
supplementary documenta-on. It must be self-contained. Format it however it achieves the
aims of part 2.
You will need to find appropriate emission factors for each type of waste and fate (kg CO2e/GJ
and GJ/kg energy content). You will also need approximate conversion rates from feedstock
to energy products for each chosen technology.
Part 3
Based on your data in part 2 you are to produce a 10-minute presenta-on discussing the Part
2 data and jus-fying your decisions
That is, make your spreadsheet into an engaging visual presenta$on.
Apart from the values and technologies chosen from Part 2, you will need to explain WHY
you chose the par$cular waste to energy technology for each waste type.
For example, you may have a slide on plas-c recycling.
This slide may have amount of food waste produced each year, the current fate of the food
waste, your decision on what to do with the food and why. Ques-ons you should address
may be: should the food waste be landfill, combusted in waste to energy plant, or processed
by pyrolysis, gasifica-on, hydrothermal liquefac-on or diges-on. How much energy can be
gained from direct combus-on, what will you do with the heat (electricity genera-on and
efficiency), what emissions are produced. What about the energy available and usefulness
from the other processes suitable for food waste (methane produc-on). Compare emissions.
Your slide should be predominately graphical (maybe graphs with amounts of energy
produced and emissions etc) and the accompanying voice track can state various decisions
and why.
Another slide may be plas-c waste – what types of processes to turn it in to energy products
are available. What one have you chosen, and why. Once again compare waste streams and
emissions intensity to its current fate (landfill)?
Your presenta-on should have a summary slide or two at the end highligh-ng how much a
well-designed waste to energy program (processes suitable to each category of waste) can
save Western Australia in mass of landfill and reduc-on in emissions vs the current fate of
landfill. You should also comment on the real-world prac-cality of adop-ng such systems,
looking at physical prac-cality, scale of opera-ons, approximate costs and revenues etc.
For all assignment parts, specific values (amounts, conversion factors, kg of emission per
kg material etc, even if approximate) are required. The presenta$on must not be of a
general nature (more of a summery) but must have specifics in it. You must answer what
the assignment is asking, submissions containing general informa$on, summaries of
others work (just using others peoples reports and re-sta$ng them) and lack of specifics
will cost you a large amount of marks and will most likely result in failure of the
assignments.
If you have ques$ons – ask me and ask early. “I didn’t know….I wasn’t sure….I did not
understand” will not be acceptable as an excuse.
Submission Guide Part 2
The spreadsheet(s) must be easy to read and follow the various data. It must be a stand
alone document that can be fully u-lised without any sup[por-ng documenta-on or
informa-on.
Marks will be awarded for
a) Correct informa-on and data
b) Sensible formaHng
c) Traceability of data
d) Referencing
e) A rac-ve prac-cal formaHng
f) Ease of diges-on of data and ability to follow thought processes.
Note: plagiarism (chea-ng) includes the sharing of data with other students and also the use
of common spreadsheet formats between submissions. There is plenty of -me to do this
assignment and if you have issues, problems finding data etc, ask other students for general
help of consult the lecturer.
Submission Guide Part 3
The presenta-on should be between 9-11 minutes with 11 being the maximum. Marks will
be awarded for clarity of narra-ve, completeness of argument, quality and “correctness” of
data used, considera-on of all major variables/parameters/inputs in the proposal (e.g.
considera-on of all appropriate aspects)
Quality of the Presenta-on
Marks will be awarded for the following
a) Engagement / Interest of the slide set
a. No dull dreary word filled slides
b. No default Microso2 pastel colour scheme (please!!!)
c. No crammed slides or mostly void slides
d. Slides should have few words and message conveyed by speaker and slide
content (graphs, diagrams etc)
b) Quality of diagrams/graphs used
a. No fuzzy/ poor resolu-on pictures etc
b. Appropriate graphs used to display data
c. Overall readability and “diges-bility” of the slide set
c) Quality of the voice track
a. Engaging with interest expressed through the voice
b. Appropriate speed of presenta-on with -me for listener to absorb material
c. Marks deducted for “robo-c” read voice
Your submission can be a PowerPoint slide set with voice track as described below or a
single video file with the slide set and voice track. This all depends on your familiarity with
and access to so2ware. You personally do not need to appear in the videos (no insert
window with you required) but of course you can.
In the end what is required is a playable presenta-on with voice track that presents your
proposal.
How to make a presenta$on with voice track for submission online.
The assump-on is that you all can make a basic PowerPoint presenta-on slide deck.
Note: you can
a) make a whole presenta-on, and then present it on your computer while recording the voice
track, or
b) make individual slides, present and record to each slide and then copy the slides into one
complete presenta-on or
c) use any video edi-ng so2ware that you can use.
Powerpoint records the voice file a ached to each slide so you can mix and match, re-record over
previous ones etc. I suggest you prac-ce with basic slides , copy , paste and move around to see how
it works.
How to make a pre-recorded Presenta$on with older versions of PowerPoint.
1. Make you presenta-on or slide.
2. Go to Slideshow and select Record Slide Show
3. Under the Record Slide Show you can select to record from the beginning if you are doing a
whole presenta-on, or record for the current slide. You can also clear previously made
recordings
4. Prior to star-ng it will offer you the following box
This gives you the opportunity to record any anima-ons you have in your slide and allow you to use
the inbuilt “laser pointer” which can be useful
5. Now the program starts recording from your selected microphone (laptop, webcam,
headset) and there is a -mer and controls that appears on the screen allowing you to stop,
pause and showing you the current recorded -me
6. Press the cross in the top right corner of the above box to stop the recording. You will now
see a
icon on your slide(s). You can press that to play and hear your recording,
delete it and re-record if you are not happy. The file you upload to LMS for submission
should have one of those on each slide indica-ng there is a voice track on each slide in your
presenta-on.
7. During the presenta-on you may also want to bring up and use the “laser pointer”. This is
accessed by placing your mouse near the bo om le2 of the presenta-on while running and
accessing the tools
The laser pointer is also saved in the presenta-on so you can use it to highlight aspects of your slides
during the presenta-on.
When you are happy with your slides and associated voice track, save the file for submission, name it
appropriately and upload by due date.
New versions of PowerPoint
Note Newer versions of PowerPoint have a more sophis-cateed presenta-on recording system with
op-ons for inser-ng a video of you presen-ng, tool permenantly available on the bo om etc.
Recording Tools
Pointers and
onscreen pens
SeHngs for microphone
and camera
Microphone, video on/off and
selec-on for insert of
presenter video Tools