Abstract
Trinidad and Tobago emits 11.3 metric tonnes of CO2-eq per capita per year, making it one of the highest per capita per year greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters globally. An estimated 87% of these emissions are linked to the industrial sector, including power generation. This study aims to reduce the national environmental impact of the power generation and waste disposal sectors, with the goal of reducing the country's reliance on natural gas and promoting sustainable power generation via waste-to-energy (WTE) pathways. This work seeks to implement a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) framework, along with techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life-cycle assessment (LCA) to determine potential sustainable objectives with respect to T&T's power system. The study implements supply chain optimisation considering single objective optimisation (SOO) with life-cycle (LC) endpoint externalities included. The key constraint of the system was the production of sufficient electricity to sustain the national power grid. A WTE model was proposed in which incineration, gasification and anaerobic digestion (AD) were implemented to supplement the country's natural gas based power generation system. When considering LC endpoint externalities, inclusion of WTE along with improved natural gas power generation efficiency resulted in a maximum reduction of 31% in total annualised life-cycle cost (TALC) and 38% in total annualised GHG emissions (TAGE). Thus, indicating the potential of WTE as a key factor in achieving sustainable development goals in SIDS. This work provides a roadmap for the implementation of sustainable power generation practices for policymakers.