Feasibility of municipal solid waste (MSW) as energy sources for Saudi Arabia’s future Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plants

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) generates between 1.4–1.75 kg/person/day of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) that accounts for over 16 million tons of MSW/year. The solid waste collected from different sources is dumped in landfills, thereby creating environmental concerns. In this paper, the potential of solid waste as an energy source (Waste to Energy (WTE)) for Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purification was evaluated. The KSA is known for its acute fresh water shortages and uses desalination technology in meeting its daily water requirements; a process that is energy intensive. The evaluation of the energy content of MSW shows a potential to produce about 927 MW in 2015, based on a total mass burn, and about 1,692 MW in 2032. The MSW-WTE plants can produce about 1.5% of the targeted 120 GW of energy for 2032. For the R.O system, it will give approximately 16.8% of the daily fresh water needed for total mass burn and 2.4% with the recycling option.