Thermoelectric power generation systems recovering heat from combustible solid waste in Japan

The status and future prospects on the development of thermoelectric power generation systems utilizing heat from the municipal solid waste in Japan are reviewed in this paper. Two ongoing research and development programs related to this application in Japan are briefly introduced. The characteristics of heat from the solid waste processing system lead to the peculiar concept of thermoelectric power generation system. The theoretical and experimental studies including small scale onsite experiment are shown to discuss several technological problems and the guideline for the development of such systems.