Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 80 (2017) 10171030

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Urban biomass and methods of estimating municipal biomass resources MARK

Y. Li , L.W. Zhou, R.Z. Wang
Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: Municipal generated biomass contains signicant quantities of carbohydrates, which have considerable
Municipal biomass potential to be applied as an energy source. It is necessary to investigate the characteristic of municipal
Municipal solid waste (MSW) biomass and quantify its energy contents. The objective of this paper is to review the recent research progress on
Municipal sewage biomass potentials in the urban area together with municipal biomass resource estimation methods. The
Urban wood biomass
municipal biomass can be classied into three major categories such as municipal solid waste, municipal
Estimation methods of municipal biomass
resources
sewage, and urban wood biomass. The study of proximate, ultimate and caloric value analysis shows that these
three categories of municipal biomass are dierent in properties. The caloric values of the three biomass
categories are approximately 7.1019.90 MJ/kg, 8.7319.10 MJ/kg and 16.9621.59 MJ/kg respectively. The
origins of municipal solid waste in Asia are dierent from those of Europe, and the basic disposal methods are
diverse. The characteristics of municipal biomass dier a lot in developing and developed countries. The
possible reasons for this dierence are the customs, resources, and culture of these countries. The methods of
estimating municipal biomass in urban areas can be classied as measurement methods, semi-empirical
methods and advanced modelling. For the measurement method, there are statistical methods for municipal
solid waste, measuring of municipal sewage using ow meter and biomass remote sensing for urban wood
biomass, which is quite labour and time consuming. The most widely used semi-empirical methods include the
handbook method and allometric method. The allometric method is usually applied to urban wood biomass. In
this paper, two advanced modelling methods in estimating municipal biomass resources are introduced, that are
the articial neural network and multiple linear regression. It is expected that the articial neural network will
be a promising method for the estimation of municipal biomass amount.

1. Introduction
Ancient people used biomass such as wood, leaves and ordure in
their daily lives as an essential energy resource. Although fossil fuel had
replaced biomass and had been preferred for usage in urban areas since
the industrial revolution, the biomass has gradually become an
attractive option again in the energy industry nowadays.
Fig. 1 shows the biofuels production around the world in 2015. The
production of biofuels increasing rapidly with time. For instance, world
biofuel production increased by 7.4% in 2014 as compared to 2013,
while it dropped down to 0.9% in 2015 as compared to 2014 [1], it is
still increasing. Fig. 2 compares the production ability between biofuel
and renewable energy in dierent regions around the world in 2015.
For renewable energy, Europe & Eurasia shares the most of total
energy, which is approximately 39.2%. While for biofuel production,
North America has the maximum share of total energy, which is around
42.9%, and biomass development still has huge potential, especially in
Africa, Middle East, and Asia.
There are four reasons to support the development of municipal
biomass.
Firstly, municipal biomass yields in signicant quantity every year
and this makes it able to produce enormous energy. Thus, it is a good
choice to overcome the deciency of energy that is generated due to
constantly decreasing other natural energy resources. For example,
Chang et al. [2] discussed the energy distribution and ow of one
currently operating MSW incinerator in Taiwan. Based on the lower
heating value of the MSW that is 7.6 MJ/kg, the energy potential is
approximately 73,000 MJ/h 4400 MJ/h for one chamber in a typical
MSW incinerator. With such high energy production of municipal
waste, there exists great potential for future energy utilization.

Abbreviations and acronyms: MSW, municipal solid waste; COD, chemical oxygen demand; BOD, biochemical oxygen demand; FC, xed carbon; VM, volatile matter; SVI, sludge
volume index; ANN, articial neural network; AD, anaerobic digestion; GLM, general linear model; MAE, mean absolute error; MAPE, mean absolute percentage error; RMSE, root
mean square error; BP, backpropagation neural network; MLP, multilayer perceptron neural network; a, parameter related with the biomass species; b, parameter related with the
biomass species; B, total aboveground biomass; D, diameter at breast height

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: liyo@sjtu.edu.cn (Y. Li).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.05.214
Received 30 June 2016; Received in revised form 13 April 2017; Accepted 23 May 2017
1364-0321/ 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Li et al.
Fig. 1. World biodiesel production around the world in 2015 [1].
Fig. 2. The comparison of production between biofuel and renewable energy in dierent
regions around the world in 2015 [1].
Secondly, the application of municipal biomass is also a respond
towards environment protection and sustainability. Using municipal
biomass instead of energy crops or agriculture residues can save arable
land, release food shortage stress, and reduce the chance of damaging
the biomass diversity. Referring to its carbon neutral characteristic, the
disposing of municipal biomass will also alleviate the pressure of
environment pollution and leads to less CO2 emission.
Thirdly, reasonable utilization of biomass resource will improve the
land availability for the city. If the municipal biomass is not well
disposed, since it keeps yielding continuously, it will certainly increase
the land-use pressure in urban areas. What's more, the inappropriate
disposing of biomass might lead to the waste siege phenomenon and
aected the development of the city seriously which had already
happened in Beijing, China. Therefore, after well treatment of muni-
cipal biomass, its volume will dramatically decrease leaving more space
for urban development.
Finally yet importantly, in the eld of biomass, there exists
abundant research papers and ndings about municipal biomass which
are worthy of an in-depth study and research. For example, this review
paper has referred more than 100 research papers from dierent
researchers all around the world. It is good and meaningful to
summarize the valuable results and ndings from their works.
The analysis of resource potential and characteristics of municipal
biomass provide important information for its application. A sound
estimation of municipal biomass potential is essential for governments
to put forward appropriate energy policies and construct treatment
plants based on the infrastructure [3]. It is helpful for urban manage-
ment, city planning and optimization of the energy structure, which
contributes to a city's infrastructure construction and indispensable
facilities. Enterprises need such data to consolidate investment deci-
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 80 (2017) 10171030
sions. Based on accurate estimation data, the energy industry could
provide the appropriate amount of energy to urban dwellers, industrial
factories, transportation, public facilities and relevant power institu-
tions [4]. In addition, good estimation provides necessary information
on the selection of the appropriate treatment process of municipal
biomass.
Many researches have been conducted to study the characteristics
and quantities of biomass in dierent regions and countries, like
European countries, Bangladesh, India, and China. Ericsson et al. [5]
applied a resource-based approach to assess the biomass potential in
15 European countries. Biomass categories included in their study were
forest residues, forest industry by-products, straw, maize residues and
energy crops. Municipal solid waste, used wood and manure are
excluded. Scarlat et al. [6] compared the biomass resources for energy
use in Norway with those of Sweden, Finland and Denmark and
showed that Norway has large available potential, but there are still
limitations including high investment price, topography, accessibility,
and economic competition. Halder et al. [7] assessed the renewable
biomass energy of agricultural residue, forest residue, animal manure
and municipal solid waste; in 20122013, biomass resources for
energy equalled 45.91 million tons of coal equivalent. Zhou et al. [8]
assessed the biomass resources of agricultural residue, forest residue
and municipal solid biomass; from 2007 to 2009, those biomass
resources in China generated approximately 0.2, 3.9, and 14.7 EJ of
energy, respectively, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions of
3276.7 million tons. Ravindranath et al. [9] assessed crop residue,
animal manure, municipal solid waste, industrial wastewater and
biomass fuels. They found that in 2010, the biomass energy potential
that was equal to 8.26 EJ. Berndes et al. [10] conducted a review based
on 17 dierent studies, and the result showed the future global energy
supply ranging from less than 100 EJ per year to more than 400 EJ per
year in 2050. They determined that the dierent results of the
contribution are caused by the assessment approach and the external
factors applied to the land availability and yield levels. Most of these
previous review works on the assessment of biomass resource potential
are based on large areas, including urban and countryside areas.
Several works were performed on such biomass material as crop
residue and animal manure, which were usually unavailable in urban
areas.
Determining the actual municipal biomass potential for urban
renewable applications can be a challenging task. The complex urban
environment, with varying original resources of urban wastes, com-
bined with limited available investigation data about existing urban
forest and municipal waste water passage, are the main reasons for the
diculties emerging in the eort to assess biomass potential [7].
Further, the knowledge about the inuences of dierent parameters
on the urban biomass characteristics is quite limited [11]. Though
plenty of research has been carried out to analyse the characteristics
and estimate the potential for municipal biomass, there still exist some
problems. According to the author's best knowledge, a comprehensive
summary about the characteristics of municipal biomass resources and
methods on resource estimation are still unavailable.
The objective of this paper is to review the recent progress in the
study on the characteristics of municipal biomass and the estimation
methods for the energy potential of municipal biomass in urban areas.
This paper will rst explain dierent resource classication methods
based on origin, characteristics, composition and properties and then it
will develop an appropriate classication method to provide a basis for
the summarization of characteristics analysis and resource estimation
of previous research works. Then will compare and discuss the
proximate, ultimate and caloric value analysis. The second part will
summarize biomass resource estimation methods that are generally
used and are based on the type of municipal biomass. It is expected
that this work will provide valuable information for future study on the
application of municipal biomass and improve the technologies for
municipal biomass energy conversion.
Y. Li et al.
Fig. 3. Biomass classication based on the biomass origin [15].
2. Characteristics of biomass in urban areas
2.1. Municipal biomass classication
The concept of biomass is understood and shared in a common
science community. One denition accepted by the majority is that
biomass is made up of organic matter derived from living or recently
living organisms [1216]. Biomass classication helps better under-
stand the current biomass situation. There have been dierent
classications based on various criterions.
Generally, biomass could be classied based on origin, character-
istics, composition, and disposal methods [17]. For example, as is
shown in Fig. 3, based on the origin, biomass is classied into
agricultural residues, forest residues, animal manure & human
excreta, municipal solid wastes, industrial wastes, aquatic plants and
algae, etc. Some of them are dominant biomass resources in the
production of biofuels and have good potential for other forms of
bioenergy generation.
Based on chemical composition, biomass is classied into lignin,
cellulose and hemicellulose coupled with minerals and other elements
[18]. The sustainability of biomass as a promising feedstock depends
on various properties such as caloric value, which is determined by
the composition of biomass.
In accordance with the chemical and biological properties, muni-
cipal biomass is divided into organic (putrescible and non-putrescible)
and inorganic (degradable and non-degradable) matters as shown in
Fig. 4. Putrescible, which means decomposable, refers to a process by
which organic substances are broken down into simpler forms of
matter, and degradable means that the inorganic part of the MSW is
capable of being decomposed chemically or biochemically [19].
The biomass discussed here is focused on urban areas, and its
classication based on the origin and characteristic is shown in Fig. 5.
The highest level of classication of municipal biomass is MSW,
municipal sewage and urban wood biomass. A ner classication is
then made. MSW is divided into organic waste and inorganic waste.
The municipal sewage is divided into industrial liquid waste and
sanitary sewage according to their origins. Industrial liquid waste is
Fig. 4. A classication of biomass waste based on composition and properties [19].
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 80 (2017) 10171030
Fig. 5. Municipal biomass classication based on origin and composition for biomass
energy application in urban area.
the by-product of industry or related activities, such as black liquor
from the paper industry. Sanitary sewage is mainly composed of grey
water and black water originating from both houses and commercial
buildings. Greywater is the waste water generated during people's daily
life without faecal contamination, which includes sinks, showers, baths,
kitchen and laundry activities [20]. Black water usually contains the
faecal part including faeces, urine and ush water together with the
anal cleansing water or toilet paper [21]. Black liquor is the waste
material generated from the paper industry. The digestion process of
transforming the pulpwood into paper pulp is the removal of lignin,
hemicelluloses and other extractives from the wood to free the cellulose
bres [22,23]. Urban wood biomass mainly includes municipal green
waste such as leaves and twigs, branches and waste wood products
including sawdust, wooden furniture and by-products during the
product manufacturing process. Almost all of the abovementioned
biomass in the urban area can be utilized and converted into appro-
priate energy for the everyday life of urban dwellers.
The weight percentage contribution of the municipal solid waste,
municipal sewage and urban wood biomass is 29.12%, 16.06%, and
44.82% respectively in China. Urban wood biomass has the biggest
share of the total. Since there exists great uncertainty of caloric value
in dierent areas around the whole country, we could only arrive at a
result of weight percentage contribution of municipal biomass. And for
the percentage contribution of caloric value, we believe it is worthy of
further study and research in the future. The calculation method is as
following:
1. We obtain the data from China statistical yearbook 2016 which
shows that the quantity or area of municipal solid waste, municipal
sewage and urban green area in the whole country in 2015 are 1.91
1011 kg, 7.351013 kg, and 2.671010 m2 separately.
2. Based on Chen et al. [112]s methods on guring out the amount of
sludge from municipal sewage, we have found that there is approxi-
mately 2.941011 kg sludge. Then, in terms of Wu et al.s [113]
method, we have calculated the amount of urban green waste which
Y. Li et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 80 (2017) 10171030

is about 1.711011 kg. And the quantity of the three biomass
categories in China in 2015 is 1.911011 kg, 1.711011 kg, and 2.94
1011 kg. Thus, the weight percentage contribution of the municipal
solid waste, municipal sewage and urban wood biomass is 29.12%,
16.06%, and 44.82%.
2.2. Municipal solid waste
MSW, commonly known as garbage or rubbish, is the discarded
waste in solid from people's everyday living and working generated in
households, commercial establishments, institutions, and businesses in
urban areas [24]. Used paper, discarded cans and bottles, food scraps,
yard trimmings, industrial process wastes, agricultural wastes, mining
waste and other items are common constituents of MSW.
Conventionally, MSW is divided into food residue, wood waste, paper,
textiles, plastics, and rubber based on the material [25].
MSW can be divided into organic and inorganic matter based on
chemical and biological properties. The organic part of MSW includes
paper, wood, textiles, leather, oil, and so on. They are the main
feedstock for waste-to-energy progress by using dierent energy
conversion technologies such as incineration, digestion, pyrolysis and
bio-technologies. The inorganic part of MSW consists of metals, glass,
concrete, masonry and so on.
Cultural, economic and national development situations have an
impact on MSW composition [26]. The original sources of MSW as
studied by dierent researchers are summarized in Table 1. The
average moisture content and caloric value are present here as
important properties of MSW.
In Table 1, it is clear that compared with Asia areas, European areas
have a higher content of paper, metal and glass yet a lower content of
kitchen waste and plastic. MSW in European areas has lower moisture
content and higher caloric value. This is caused by dierent original
resources. With a higher carbon content, paper and cardboard have a
higher caloric value, whereas kitchen waste contains more water. In
kitchen waste, the MSW in Asian areas is mainly made up of fruits,
vegetables and edible stas, whereas the MSW in European areas
mainly contains meat or seafood. In addition, less plastic shows the
high awareness of environmental protection among the European
people.
To determine the chemical composition of the MSW, proximate
analysis and ultimate analysis are usually applied to quantify the
composition of biomass. Proximate analysis, ultimate analysis and
caloric value are important parameters as a reference to determine the
performance of biomass in terms of fuel, eciency and the environ-
mentally friendliness level [30].
Proximate analysis is useful in revealing the combustible and
incombustible contents. Generally, there are two methods used in
proximate analysis. The rst is using a furnace to heat the feedstock
under specied standard conditions. The second method is thermo-
gravimetric analysis (TGA), in which the moisture and volatile content
are discharged in the nitrogen environment at approximately 900 C,
during which the xed carbon is burnt under a high temperature in
oxygenated environment, and only ash is left [31]. To be specic, ash
content and volatile matter are determined by using a platinum
crucible and fused silica crucible with a lid separately in a mue
furnace model to burn the sample and using mass conservation to
determine the moisture content and xed carbon [32].
Ultimate analysis concentrates on the elements in the test material.
Ultimate analysis shows the concentration of ve elements including
carbon (C), oxygen (O), hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S)
contained in the biomass. Conventional ways to measure the elements
include calculating the oxidation products under high temperature.
Because the measurement is tedious and time-consuming, this method
is not widely used. Currently, Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) is
gradually becoming a popular method and is an easy, non-destructive
and rapid method [33]. It includes two steps: First, all samples
collected from dierent resources are dried and milled to a standard
size, usually less than 1.0 mm. Then, the samples are subjected to
spectroscopic analysis by using a spectrometer.
Caloric value, also known as heating value, is the amount of heat
released per unit of a specied type of material during combustion.
Caloric value is usually measured by means of a bomb calorimeter or
calculated from dierent mathematical equations based on the re-
source composition [34]. It is dened as the heat liberated during this
process [35]. By using a bomb calorimeter, a unit mass of a sample is
mixed with oxygen and burn together in a constant volume. In addition
to measurement methods, the caloric value can also be obtained from
equations linking the heating value with the elemental composition
obtained from ultimate analysis [36] or with the dierent parameters
obtained from proximate analysis [37]. Generally, the weights in the
equations are determined by multiple linear regression [38].
Ash content is the incombustible residue after the biomass endures
a high-temperature treatment process [39]. With a low melting point,
ash content tends to cause fouling and slagging problems and thus
poses an adverse eect on the equipment and damages the whole
system. Increasing ash and moisture content together will unavoidably
lead to problems including incomplete combustion or ignition failure
[40].
Water content is a critical parameter that can aect the production
and application process of municipal biomass. Moist material requires
more energy in the drying process, so the cost in the MSW pretreat-
ment will increase. High water content can lead to a relatively low

Table 1
Original resources of MSW from European and Asia areas around the world w% (2007).

Original resource of MSW Average moisture content Calorific value (kJ/kg)

Kitchen waste Paper Plastic Metal Glass Other

European areas The U.K. 27 38 2.5 9 9 14.5 25 9737.3 [27]

Netherlands 21 25 4 3 10 37 25 8346.2 [27]
Germany 15 28 3 7 9 38 35 8355.4 [27]
Switzerland 20 45 3 5 5 22 35 9969.1 [27]
Sweden 22 45 9 7 7 10 25 9209.2 [27]
Italian 25 20 5 3 7 40 30 7323.2 [27]
Belgium 21 30 9 2 4 34 28 7038 [27]
Asian areas Japan 22.7 38.2 7.3 4.1 7.1 21.6 23 10,202.8 [27]
Korea 44 22 19 2.9 12.1 58 7300 [28]
Kaohsiung 10.05 37.03 15.66 6.74 7.58 22.94 50.27 7134 [29]
Shenzhen 56.41 12.9 11.16 0 0 19.53 43.63 5000 [27]
Shaoxing 63.8 6.68 6.62 1.1 2.5 15.1 50 4620 [27]
Shanghai 42.22 1.8 0.6 1.07 0 55.31 37 4600 [27]
Ningbo 47.51 8.29 15.47 0.11 3.87 20.44 51 4370 [27]
Suzhou 58.3 7.91 7.17 0.29 1.68 19.63 53.63 3977 [27]

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Y. Li et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 80 (2017) 10171030

caloric value, low combustion thermal eciency, high consumption of

[43]
[44]
[45]
[46]
[47]
[48]
[29]
[49]

[28]
[50]
the pretreatment energy, and high-temperature vapour, which may
Gross calorific value
damage the equipment and increase the temperature of exhaust gas
[19]. Water content in municipal biomass has a diverse distribution
around the world. For example, the MSW in China could have a higher
content of water compared with most European countries [41].
MJ/kg

19.22

16.14
18.9
Table 2 shows the proximate analysis, ultimate analysis and
19.9

9.02
caloric value of MSW in dierent areas. Usually, MSW in European
areas has relatively higher caloric values, more organic matter, higher
Net calorific value

xed carbon content and remarkably lower moisture content compared

Calorific value

with Asian areas [27]. This is mainly caused by dierent levels of

1.612.7
economic development, urban population, rate of consumption, geo-
MJ/kg

14.41

19.17

7.134

graphic location and administrative systems [42]. The primary reason

17.4

9.13

7.3
is that MSW properties are directly inuenced by the composition of
garbage as shown above in Table 1. The caloric value in European
Oxygen wt%

4.831.1

areas ranging from 14.4 to 19.9 MJ/kg is higher than that in Asia areas
22.27

28.12
11.44

53.15

ranging from 7.1 to 19.1 MJ/kg.

38.3
3.43

34

2.3. Municipal sewage sludge

Sulphur wt%

0.010.51

Wastewater treatment diers signicantly in urban and rural areas.

0.23

0.23
0.1

0.3

0.2

0.2

In some rural areas, there are no wastewater treatment plants at all.

0

Because of dierent economic levels and living habits, rural sewage has
Nitrogen wt%

a simpler composition and lower production and is remarkably

0.11.6

decentralized compared with municipal sewage. Generally, the waste-

1.71

1.32

0.62
1.26
0.51

water treatment plants in urban area have a wide range of sources.

0.6

2.7

1.2

As mentioned in the previous section, the contents of dierent

Hydrogen wt%

municipal sewage are distinguished from each other. In general, grey

water contains lower levels of organic matter and nutrients compared
1.24.9

with black water, and the levels of heavy metal are in the same
7.65

7.32

2.25
6.86
2.74

7.14
6.5

4.3
Ultimate analysis

concentration range [51]. With high content of nutrition and other bio-
6

properties, grey water could have a strong inuence on the environ-

Carbon wt%

ment if it is not properly treated [52]. Sewage sludge refers to the

6.532.8

residual, semi-solid material that is produced as a by-product during

46.11
17.85

39.71
46.2

52.3
12.7

sewage treatment of wastewater [53]. Various methods have been

40
53

44

developed to convert sewage to sludge. Sewage sludge can be obtained

Fixed carbon

by dierent water treatment processes such as gravity sedimentation,

clarication, oating, centrifugation, extraction, evaporation, and
11.15

crystallization [54].
9.93

9.52

4.37
wt%

6.9
15

Sewage sludge can be classied into sanitary sewage sludge and

industrial liquid waste sludge according to its origin [55]. Industrial
Volatile matter

liquid waste sludge includes sludge from black liquor and other wasted
The proximate analysis, ultimate analysis and calorific value of MSW in different areas.

liquid from industries, whereas sanitary sewage sludge is mainly

1758
68.13

83.19

31.36
33.06

76.31

generated from grey water and black water originating from both
76.9
wt%

64

31

houses and commercial buildings.

Sanitary sewage sludge, contains both organic and inorganic
Ash content

components, is a promising resource of energy. Generally, raw sewage

contains 7585% organic components of dry weight [56]. The sludge
15.78

16.67
234
9.26

6.03
wt%

7.3
7.7

3.9

could be generated through isothermal dewatering and drying pro-

17

22

cesses to produce briquettes. It was reported that more than 20 million

Proximate analysis

Moisture content

tons of wastewater sludge is generated every year in China with 11.5

million tons in European Union [57].
Table 3 shows the sewage sludge content in a typical European city;
3277
36.72

55.01
50.27

because the heavy metal contents exceed the standard, direct usage is
6.16

10.8

6.51
wt%

59

58
4

not suitable [54]. The sludge dry mass per capita generated every year
Kuala Lumpur

in dierent countries ranges between 14.7630.28 kg, with an average

value of 23 kg [66].
Kaohsiung

(average)
Germany

Rajshahi

The proximate analysis, ultimate analysis and caloric value of

Taiwan
Dhaka

Korea
Leeds

Spain
Crete

various municipal sewage sludge have been studied by dierent

researchers. Table 4 shows the results. This sludge is studied by recent
researchers and may not include all types of sludge. Acronyms have
been adopted to represent these sewage sludge types. SSL represents
Asian areas
European

the sewage sludge from the urban wastewater treatment plant of a very
areas

low industrialized town. SSV is from a plant in a city with a higher

Table 2

degree of industrialization. SS refers to sewage sludge that is supplied

from the local municipal wastewater treatment plant. Some sludge is

1021
Y. Li et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 80 (2017) 10171030

Table 3
Sewage sludge contents in Netherlands (2002) [54].

Constituent Range Average Agriculture usage allowed Unit

Dry solid 1535 2025 %

Organic material 5070 60 % of dry solids
Heavy metals
Cr 2060 35 75 mg/kg of dry solids
Cu 200600 375 75 mg/kg of dry solids
Pb 100400 175 100 mg/kg of dry solids
Ni 1550 30 mg/kg of dry solids
Sb 15 3 mg/kg of dry solids
Zn 5001500 900 300 mg/kg of dry solids
As 520 12 15 mg/kg of dry solids
Hg 0.53 1.4 0.75 mg/kg of dry solids
Cd 15 2 1.25 mg/kg of dry solids
Mo 420 8 mg/kg of dry solids

studied based on their generation source. BCS and PCS are sludge
coming from an engine manufacturing factory. LAPWS is low-ash
paper waste sludge, whereas HAPV is high-ash paper waste sludge, and
they come from dierent mill factories. SOS refers to stabilized oil
sludge, which is a type of black, viscous material that is generated from
municipal wastewater treatment plants. Pulp sludge comes from
factories that produce pulp, paper and paper products, whereas the
textile sludge is produced in a textile factory.
As shown in Table 4, sanitary sewage sludge and industrial liquid
waste sludge have similar average caloric values of approximately
15 MJ/kg. However, the range of variation for industrial and sanitary
sewage sludge are dierent; the former is from 8.73 to 19.10 MJ/kg,
whereas the latter is from 9.48 to 17.61 MJ/kg. The gure also shows
that the higher the carbon content, the higher the caloric value. The
table is sorted in descending order based on caloric value. The
caloric value of sewage is similar to that of MSW and is much lower
than that of coal.
Table 5 shows the sludge generated from a municipal sewage
treatment plant in several European countries and the amount of dry
sludge per capita in 2013 [66]. According to the table, Germany had the
largest amount of sludge at approximately 2049 thousand tons per year
followed by United Kingdom with 1771 and Switzerland the least with
210 thousand tons per year. Austria has the largest amount of sludge
assigned to each capita and generated only 254 thousand tons of sludge
a year in the whole country. This might be caused by dierences in
population, economic states, natural conditions and climate.
2.4. Urban wood biomass
Urban wood biomass is made up of municipal green waste coming
from urban forest and waste wood products. Urban wood biomass
refers to tree or wood biomass that is liberated when urban trees are
taken down or parts of woody vegetation are trimmed [67]. Urban
forest systems have signicant eects in enhancing the environmental
condition by lowering noise, providing oxygen by absorbing carbon
dioxide, and moderating the climate [68].
The caloric value of urban wood biomass is relatively high
compared with other types of municipal biomass. Waste wood pro-
ducts, which are mainly composed of dry wood, have a high caloric
value and can become an important feedstock for power generation
[69]. Municipal green waste also has a high caloric value. Table 6
shows the proximate analysis, ultimate analysis and caloric value of
dierent types of plants commonly observed in urban areas. It is clear
that volatile matter, carbon content and oxygen content are somewhat
high, which is due to the high organic matter content. In addition, the
greater the carbon content in a plant, the higher its caloric value. This
table also shows that wood chips have a higher caloric value, and that
of foliage is relatively lower. The caloric value of urban wood waste
ranges from 16.96 to 21.59 MJ/kg, much higher than the average
number of MSW and municipal sewage as shown above; the chief
reason is the high content of xed carbon and volatile matter in urban
wood biomass.
3. Estimation methods for municipal biomass resources
The objective of municipal biomass estimation is to determine the
organic content, caloric value and total amount of municipal biomass
in an urban area to obtain the total available energy from biomass. In
early times, data from measurement were the main source for biomass
potential estimation. Usually, high manpower and many material
resources with long time consumption are required to calculate the
biomass amount. Gradually, people built estimation models to deter-
mine the biomass with precise results.
Fig. 6 shows that the biomass resource amount is generally
obtained through three basic ways: measurement method, semi-
empirical method and advanced modelling. The measurement method
collects statistical data based on measurement technologies, such as
remote sensing of urban wood biomass and ow velocity measurement
for municipal sewage [73]. The semi-empirical method consists of the
handbook method and allometric method. The allometric method is
generally used to determine the vegetation biomass amount. As a
comparison, advanced modelling is performed by statistical modelling
using mathematical methods, such as an articial neural network and
multiple linear regression. Based on the data measured or observed
previously, a model can be built and trained to acquire new information
of the biomass yield amount.
Various research has focused on the estimation of the MSW
amount. The following part of this paper will summarize the dierent
estimation methods in accordance with the classication.
3.1. Measurement methods
3.1.1. Municipal solid waste
The raw data of MSW amount can be obtained by using statistical
methods from government departments, and part of the information
may be available from public sources. Using the information on the
number and volume of garbage trucks and the distribution and amount
of refuse processing plants, the amount of garbage transportation is
acquired. From the Statistical Yearbook of China, it was estimated that
the total transportation mass of MSW reached 178.6 million tons in
2014 as is shown in Fig. 7 [74]. The total transportation mass of MSW
shares a similar increasing trend with the GDP growth in China from
2008 to 2014. Referring to the total transportation mass of MSW, the
rate of rise continued to increase and reached the peak of 4% in 2014.
The annual increasing amount of MSW exacerbates the current
environment problem and must be seriously considered. In addition,
the Pollution Control Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment, collected data on the everyday MSW amount of munici-

1022
 Y. Li et al.

Table 4
The proximate analysis, ultimate analysis and calorific value of municipal sewage sludge in different areas.

Proximate analysis Ultimate analysis Caloric value Areas Ref.

MJ/kg
Moisture content Ash content wt Volatile matter Fixed carbon Carbon wt% Hydrogen wt% Nitrogen wt% Sulphur wt% Oxygen wt%
wt% % wt% wt%

Industrial PCS 30.4 69.1 0.5 32.78 5.81 0.04 0.91 60.09 19.10 Nanjing, China [58]
liquid LAPWS 80.9 5.8 78.7 15.5 49.2 5.9 0.08 0 44.8 17.80 Nelspruit, South [59]
waste Africa
sludge BCS 27.86 65.53 6.61 31.75 5.76 1.54 1.88 59.08 17.60 Nanjing, China [58]
SOS 4.8 57.9 37.3 75.24 9.98 0.55 1.71 12.52 13.90 Moravia [60]
HAPVS 54.6 24.6 50.3 2.9 47.2 6.7 0.41 0 45.7 12.10 Nelspruit, South [59]
Africa
Textile 53.6 5.12 4.16 32.15 5.73 1.36 1.64 59.04 11.99 Taoyuan, Taiwan [61]
sludge
Pulp sludge 54.29 7.94 8.06 18.48 1.78 0.83 0 78.82 8.73 Taoyuan, Taiwan [61]
Sanity SSL 4.3 17.7 10.6 73.5 3.2 4.5 0.9 20.9 17.61 Leon, Spain [62]

1023
sewage Sewage 11.75 23.51 53.48 11.27 39.48 6.19 3.93 1.45 25.46 17.14 Nigde, Turkey [63]
sludge sludge
Sewage 11.79 27.89 62.11 10 45.16 7.2 7.69 27.5 0 16.18 Taibe, Taiwan [64]
sludge
Sewage 36.68 56.78 6.54 51.98 7.61 7.49 2.57 30.35 15.26 Riga [65]
sludge
Sewage 4.9 36.4 51.4 52.5 6.7 7.3 2.5 31 12.57 Poland [56]
sludge
SSV 3.9 53.8 42.8 22.7 3.3 3.1 1.6 15.5 9.48 Leon, Spain [62]

PCS: physical-chemical sludge

LAPWS: low ash paper waste sludge
SSL: sewage sludge from the urban wastewater treatment plant of a very low industrialized town
BCS: biochemical sludge
SOS: stabilized oil sludge
HAPVS: high-ash paper waste sludge
SSV: sewage sludge from the urban wastewater treatment plant of a high industrialized town
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 80 (2017) 10171030
Y. Li et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 80 (2017) 10171030

Table 5
Sludge from municipal sewage treatment plant in European countries (2013) [66].

Country Total (thousand ton/ Sludge dry mass per capita (kg/
year) (cap.year))

Germany 2049 24.99

United Kingdom 1771 28.63
France 1087 17.37
Spain 1065 21.12
Italy 1056 17.51
Poland 563 14.76
Netherlands 353 21.37
Hungary 260 25.95
Austria 254 30.28
Czech Republic 220 20.94
Switzerland 210 27.14 Fig. 6. Municipal biomass estimation methods summarized in this paper.

frequency, and then the ow is obtained. Another popular owmeter is

palities in Thailand from 1993 to 2010 [75]. The quantities and types of
solid waste disposed at landlls from 1991 to 2014 in Hong Kong can
be obtained from government website as shown in Fig. 8 [76].
3.1.2. Municipal sewage
In recent decades, water consumption has been rising even more
quickly than energy consumption in urban areas [77]. This leads to
more municipal sewage generation. The trend of global water with-
drawal grew by 7.5% during 20002010. It is important to obtain the
quantity of municipal sewage for sewage treatment and ood control.
Further, the data are helpful in the establishment and update of a city's
drainage system.
To quantify the amount of municipal sewage, a owmeter based on
dierent principles such as an electromagnetic owmeter, velocity
owmeter, weir owmeter and supersonic owmeter have been used.
By using a owmeter, the average velocity of the uid is obtained, and
then the quantity of sewage can be calculated by integrating the
product of the velocity and sectional area [73]. For example, the
ultrasonic Doppler owmeter [78] is small in size, easy to install and
stable to avoid being dipped into the corrosive sewage. This equipment
is based on the theory of the Doppler Eect in which the frequency of a
wave will change with the change in position between the observer and
the owing sewage. The velocity is calculated by using the dierence in
the full pipe electromagnetic owmeter (EMF-PF), which is based on
the Faraday law of electromagnetic induction. The velocity is directly
related with the induced electromotive force aroused by the movement
of the sewage. The ow of sewage is then easy to calculate [79].
After obtaining the amount of sludge generated from sewage, it is
important to determine the caloric value of the sewage sludge. Hei
et al. [80] treated municipal sewage by using the Pennisetum hydri-
dum, a high biomass plant. They found that the caloric value of
municipal sewage rose from the initial value of 1.95.6 MJ/kg. This
result showed that with proper pretreatment, the whole power capacity
of the sewage sludge will increase with a higher caloric value. Husillos
et al. [81] estimated that the caloric value of sewage sludge is
approximately 8.3 MJ/kg, which is sucient to power a cement plant.
3.1.3. Urban wood biomass
Urban wood biomass includes municipal green waste coming from
urban forests and waste wood products. The urban forest provides a
beautiful landscape, improves the local environment and creates a
comfortable site for urban people to relax. There are two main
measurement methods for wood biomass resource estimation: onsite
measurement and remote sensing. Onsite measurement will select
samples from a limited area within the selected zone and determine the
biomass. The whole biomass amount can then be calculated based on

Table 6
Proximate analysis, ultimate analysis and calorific value of some specific types of urban wood biomass [7072].

No. Raw materials (biomass) Proximate analysis Ultimate analysis Gross calorific value
(% by wt dry basis) (% by wt dry basis) (dry basis
MJ/kg)
Fixed carbon Volatile matter Ash content Carbon Hydrogen (%) Oxygen (%) Nitrogen (%) Sulphur
(%) (%)

1 Wood chips 15.4 83.4 1.2 20.031 [71]

2 Walnut 20.8 78.5 0.7 48.2 6.25 43.24 1.61 19.967 [71]
3 Pinechips 21.65 72.4 5.95 49.66 5.67 38.07 0.51 0.08 19.790 [72]
4 Forest residue 20 79.8 0.2 53.16 6.25 40 0.3 0.09 19.500 [72]
5 Peach Pit 19.8 79.1 1.1 49.14 6.34 43.52 0.48 0.02 19.423 [71]
6 Hazelnut shell 28.30 69.30 1.40 52.9 5.6 42.7 104 19.300 [71]
7 Pistachio shell 16.84 82.03 1.13 48.79 5.91 43.41 0.56 0.01 19.260 [71]
8 Eucalyptus stalk 12.2 87.3 0.5 19.097 [71]
9 Ply wood 15.77 82.14 2.09 48.13 5.87 42.46 1.45 18.955 [70]
10 Olive twigs 10.73 88.25 1.02 18.699 [71]
11 Alfalfa stems 15.81 78.92 5.27 47.17 5.99 38.19 2.68 0.2 18.670 [72]
12 Eucalyptus saw dust 16.2 83.6 0.2 49..37 6.4 42.01 2.02 18.500 [71]
13 Lantana camara leaf 11.83 70.46 7.26 45.01 6.68 43.79 2.02 18.500 [72]
14 Casuarina equisetifolia leaf 16.46 73.5 3.93 46.12 6.9 42.64 1.18 18.480 [72]
15 Mulberry stick 22.8 75.1 2.1 44.23 6.61 46.25 0.51 18.356 [71]
16 Block wood 14.59 83.32 2.09 46.90 6.07 43.99 0.95 18.261 [70]
17 Cotton gin waste 15 83.4 1.61 42.66 6.05 49.5 0.18 17.480 [71]
18 Tea waste 13.6 85 1.4 48.6 5.5 39.5 0.5 17.100 [71]
19 Oil palm fruit bunch 16.46 78.2 4.53 45.9 5.8 40.1 1.2 16.960 [71]
20 Eucalyptus bark 15.3 65.7 19 15.195 [71]
21 Pine needle (40% clay) 13.2 9.09 77.70 8.385 [71]

1024
Y. Li et al.
Fig. 7. Total transportation mass of MSW with the GDP growth in China per year from 2008 to 2014 [74].
Fig. 8. Quantities of solid waste disposed at landlls in 19912014 [76].
the typical measured biomass yield in the sampling sites [82].
According to Springer [82], in the urban landscape of Oklahoma,
U.S., the yield of dry biomass, including the falling leaves and tree
limbs from pruning, could reach from 13.5 to 19.0 Mg/ha. He also
estimated that 37506100 t of dry biomass could be generated in the
city of Woodward every year. According to the survey conducted by
Moka et al. [83], the caloric value of dierent types of plants is 15
34 MJ/kg. With a rough estimated caloric value of oak bark, which is
19.42 MJ/kg, the dry biomass generated in Woodward could be
approximately equivalent to 24854043 t of standard coal.
Remote sensing is a technology to obtain information on certain
objects or phenomena without physical contact [84]. This technology
detects and collects the electromagnetic radiation reected or emitted
by dierent objects and materials. Because the observation is from a
high altitude in the sky or even from a manmade satellite, remote
sensing can obtain information on large areas. It has been widely used
for monitoring deforestation or the borders of countries, collecting
geological data, exploring mineral resources, etc., in various areas. The
green biomass amount can be obtained by processing the data acquired
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 80 (2017) 10171030
from remote sensing technology. Based on the geographic information
system (GIS), remote sensing is able to determine the quality and
quantity of vegetation in a designated area.
He et al. measured the 3D green biomass of urban forest in Beijing
and found that the amount was 399.13 million m3 with an accuracy
greater than 85%. They used a new approach to measure the biomass.
First, each standing tree in the forest was scanned to obtain the point
cloud data, and then the point cloud data were elevated in an
independent coordinate by using a digital mapping data acquisition
system, and nally the captured volume was linked with remote
sensing image and spatial analysis software [85]. Anaya et al. [86]
estimated that the aboveground biomass in California based on MODIS
is approximately 16.2 billion kg, which equalled 14.22 kg/m2 per year;
they used remote sensing technology and separately processed the
three types of vegetation in dierent equations. Rawat et al. [87]
showed that from 1990 to 2010, the land use of vegetation in
Hawalbagh block increased by 3.51%, which equalled 9.39 km2 by
using remote sensing and GIS techniques. However, although many
studies have measured the forest and agricultural biomass areas in a
country, few studies have investigated municipal green areas.
3.2. Semi-empirical methods
In view of the complicated inuencing factors, semi-empirical
methods have been developed. The semi-empirical methods usually
use empirical evidence together with scientic theories, gaining knowl-
edge from indirect and direct experience or observation.
3.2.1. Handbook method
Using empirical equations from the handbook is one convenient
way. The estimation of municipal biomass is not easy because of several
inuencing factors such as culture, population (including permanent
and oating), season, climate, geographical location, economic devel-
opment, and government policy [88].
The method applied here includes the following steps: i) the data on
municipal garbage or sewage amount generated by one person per day
in a specic area is collected; ii) The population in this area should be
obtained. iii) Various inuencing factors and weighting values are
considered based on related handbooks provided by authorities, such
as the General Environmental Standards Municipal Solid Waste
Management Facilities/Systems issued by the government of
Y. Li et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 80 (2017) 10171030

Newfoundland and Labrador [89]. iv) The amount of municipal sewage

Thin layer drying behaviour of MSW during hot air

The rate of leachate flowrate in place of disposal of

Long-term solid waste generation in Mashhad, Iran

The rate of medical waste generation rate in Fars
Heating value of Taiwan MSW based on ultimate
Recycling strategy and a recyclability assessment

Evaluation of the quality of industrial sewage in

and MSW is obtained based on the handbook equations.

The situation of an underground sewer pipe

Weekly MSW generation in Mashhad, Iran
3.2.2. Allometric methods
For urban wood biomass, the allometric methods are frequently
used. Allometric means that there exists a proportional relationship

Solid waste generation in Serbia

solid wastes in Istanbul, Turkey
between the size of a part of the body and the whole body. The common
form of an allometric equation is [90].
and proximate analysis

B = aD b (1)

forced convection
Or in a logarithmic form,
Province, Iran

Zigong city
lnB = lna + blnD (2)
Objective

model

where B is the total quantity of aboveground plants, D is the diameter

at breast height, and a and b are parameters related to the species of
biomass. After obtaining a vegetation sample from the target area, sets
0.93

0.84

0.75

0.99

0.96

0.86
0.99

0.98
R2

/ of data of diameters and plants are measured to determine the

parameters and complete the equation. The equation is then applicable
Four indexes including BOD, COD, NH3-N,

for this species in this region. The allometric method can be used in a
Moisture content and average temperature
Organic waste, paper, glass, metal, plastic,

Cracks, spalling, joint displacements and

wide range of species from animals such as sh, mammals and insects
to plants such as vascular plants and alga.
Forecast of the future solid waste

reduction of cross-sectional area

Ketterings et al. [91] improved the equation by changing the

MSW generation rate per week

Hospital waste generation rate

parameters a and b for a secondary forestry meeting specic conditions

in Sumatra, and it was more appropriately compared with the conven-
Leachate daily flowrate

tional one with errors decreasing from 36% to 51% of the total
Product recyclability

uncertainty. Timilsina et al. [92] used the specic site data and
Heating value

allometric biomass equation to calculate the urban tree wood waste

other waste

biomass yield and built a statistical model to show the determinations

Output

of urban tree wood waste; the wood waste yield is approximately

OLI

2000 kg/ha in Gainesville, Florida. Basuki et al. [93] used the

allometric method to estimate the aboveground biomass of dipterocarp
Area, X-coordinate, Y-coordinate, major axis length, minor axis length, and the ratio of major
Type of hospital (private, governmental, educational and non-educational), hospital capacity

Six different administrative districts in Zigong including Ziliujing, Gongjing, Daan, Yantan,

and concluded that site-specic equations are necessary for better

Geographical situation, seasons, collection frequency, onsite process, people's food habits,

Real economic indicator, average age of population, level of education, municipal sector
Material compatibility, accessibility of the component, recycling benefit/recycling cost,

estimation.
economic condition, recovery and reuse boundaries, existing law and people's cultural
Temperature, pH, conductivity, months, temperature, pressure (sea level), cloudiness,
personnel ability demanded, time of disassembly, and number of disassembly tools

However, estimation-based experiences are not suciently accurate

relative humidity, precipitation, maximum temperature, minimum temperature

for exact prediction. Thus, many researchers have studied ideas for
developing advanced modelling for more accurate estimation [94].

3.3. Advanced modelling

Hot air temperature and hot air velocity ranging from 0.6 to 2 m/s
Population, the maximum temperature, and the household income

This paper will mainly focus on the introduction of ANN and MLR.
The proximate analysis and ultimate analysis parameters

They are both computational methods and useful empirical tools. ANN
has good adaptability in solving complex problems. Instead of taking
complex scientic theory equations into account, ANN focuses more on
how to accurately t the actual situation. In addition, by using machine
learning, ANN and MLR can predict more quickly and more precisely.

3.4. Articial neural network

(beds amount) and bed occupancy

axis length to minor axis length.

Relative information of research by using artificial neural networks.

As already known, the biomass amount is inuenced by many zone-

specic parameters, such as weather, geography, culture, population,
economy, policy, species of biomass, and other factors. Generally, these
Rongxian, Fushun

parameters might exert complex eects on each other, thus leading to a

less explicit theory on the mechanism between the inuencing para-
conditions

meters and the amount.

Input

ANN is able to work with nonlinear multi-element problems and

can obtain relatively accurate prediction results based only on an
acceptable number of data in a short time. It has an ability of self-
Hidden Layer

learning and is thus adaptable in complex situations. However, in

Multiple

contrast, the process of building a model can also be time consuming

Two

Two
One

One

One

One

One

One

One

and requires sucient training before it is applied for practical

utilization [95,96].
[101]

[100]

[102]

[103]

[104]
[105]

[106]

[107]

ANN has three main parts: the input layer, hidden layer and output
[98]

[99]
Ref

layer. Input neurons make up the rst layer that sends data to the
hidden layer; the data are multiplied by the weights and then will be
Sewage
Table 7

MSW

processed to the nal layer. In dierent situations, the choice of input

neuron number, weights, processing functions and output neuron

1026
Y. Li et al.
number are dierent [95].
Generally, ANN is applicable in many elds; for example, many
researchers have used this model to solve problems in pattern
recognition, prediction, optimization, control, and associative memory
[95]. It is a helpful tool in research areas from policy making to
biomass amount estimation [97]. Inuential factors on the accuracy of
the results are input data, functions and system structure. For input
data, a modest number of neurons is importantgenerally, no more
than 10; the less important factors should be deleted from the system,
or the whole system would have diculty in obtaining the appropriate
result. The most widely used function is the sigmoid function because
of its better processing ability. Many researchers have applied ANN to
predict the municipal biomass resources such as MSW and municipal
sewage. Their works have obtained informative results in dierent
situations. The model, function, input, output and objective of recent
works are summarized in Table 7. The similarities of these works are
that most of the models contain only one hidden layer, and the data
sometimes go through pre-treatment to achieve a relatively higher
calculation eciency. Before obtaining meaningful results, the ANN
model requires learning and practice to determine the optimal selec-
tion of weights. The common way to show the eectiveness and
accuracy of the model is by testing the margin of error using variance.
The error between the calculated result and the actual value will be
determined by mathematical methods, and one means of evaluation is
to test the margin of error by using variance, mean absolute error
(MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), root mean square
error (RMSE) and correlation coecient (R2) [98].
From Table 7, it is found that the objective of ANN analysis can be
mainly divided into two groups. One is to develop the most suitable
model for estimating the biomass amount. The most suitable models
for the heating value of MSW in Taiwan [98], the MSW generation rate
per week [99], the leachate daily ow rate [100] and some other
parameters have been obtained. The other is to determine the most
inuential factors on dierent features of biomass, so the relative
department would be able to develop appropriate approaches or
policies [101].
The most important step to use the ANN is the determination of
weights. Many of the studies shown in Table 7 share identical methods,
which involve selecting the inuencing parameters and weights based
on experts experience, and then the main task of the analysis is to
determine the suitable values of weights. Shu et al. [98] showed that
the weights can be self-adjusted by training data to reduce the errors
between the target value and the output value. They studied the 55
samples and used the multilayer perceptron neural networks to predict
the heating value; thus, their work was believed to be helpful in
choosing the waste treatment method. Jalili et al. [99] and Karaca et al.
[100] went further; they changed the structure of the model and
attempted to compare the dierent models to build one that could
better match reality.
In the eld of estimation of municipal solid waste, this paper nds
that the ANN is generally used for the resource estimation of MSW and
municipal sewage. Both of these resources have complex inuencing
parameters, and the measurement equipment can obtain only temporal
data; the overall measurement process is time-consuming and requires
signicant manpower and material. As a self-learning model, ANN can
work with complex nonlinear problems and is able to achieve dierent
goals raised by researchers based only on an appropriate amount of
data.
3.5. Multiple linear regression
Multiple linear regression (MLR) is one of the classical ways of
estimating the biomass amount. As one branch of a statistical model, it
also has four basic elements: data, variables, parameters and equations.
The regression model gives a quantitative description of dierent
variables and determines the dependency relationship among dierent
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 80 (2017) 10171030
variables. The general basic principle of a regression model can be
explained by the following equation:
y = f (x ) = E ( y|x ) + (3)
The essence of the regression model is the combination of condi-
tional probability and average statistical ideas. For a multiple linear
regression model, there are multiple variables, and the probability
model is
y = 0 + 1 x1 + 2 x2 + + p xp + (4)
where is the regression coecient (in linear regression, the function
of the regression coecient should also be linear), y is the dependent
variable, xi is the independent variable, and is the error term. To
check the result, testing methods including F-test, t-test and coecient
of determination can be used.
Many researchers have used MLR to determine the biomass
generating speed. Lohani et al. [108] used the empirical method with
a multiple linear regression model to predict the solid waste generation
rate in seven dierent places by using the statistical package for social
science SPSS analysis. They believed that this method is useful to
determine the correlation between the moisture content and constitu-
ents of solid waste. Chughtai et al. [109] used the MLR to predict the
infrastructure condition model for the sewage pipelines and found that
after being applied to the validation set, the result accuracy (R2) was
approximately 82 to 86%. Jahandideh el al. [102] compared the ANN
and MLR models in predicting the rate of medical waste generation and
concluded that ANN is a much more powerful tool with a higher degree
of accuracy. Although MLR is able to determine the correlation
between the inuencing parameter and the result, compared with
ANN, MLR is less exible when facing with nonlinear problems. In
addition, as Jahandideh et al. [102] and Mehnatkesh et al. [110] found,
ANN achieved a more accurate result than MLR with absolutely lower
error. This is because ANN is much better at working with nonlinear
situations.
In addition to linear regression, nonlinear regression including
mathematical types such as quadratic, logistic, and power is another
choice for biomass resource estimation. Because of the increasing
complexity of formulas, some regression models cannot be solved
directly. By using some auxiliary methods, such as the Taylor series
method, steepest descent method and LevenbergMarquardt's method,
the approximate result may be obtained. However, generally linear
regression is more accurate than nonlinear regression methods [83].
Moreover, compared with ANN, MLR is gradually losing its attractive-
ness. Many researchers have compared the prediction result separately
from the ANN and MLR models. They have determined that ANN is a
much better method because ANN can work with nonlinear situations
and is able to learn on its own to change the weights. Thus the
prediction results from ANN are more stabilized and accurate than
others [102,104,110]. Mehnatkesh et al. [110] compared the ANN and
MLR, and the correlation coecients were 0.84 and 0.53, respectively.
Wu et al. used ANN and MLR to predict daily chlorophyll in a river in
Germany, and the correlation coecients were 0.68 and 0.53, respec-
tively [111]. These researchers showed that although ANN and MLR
can achieve similar functions, there are dierences in the scope of
accuracy. MLR is capable of exploring the coecients of independent
variables, whereas ANN is able to solve nonlinear problems.
4. Conclusions
Many researchers have discussed the biomass classication meth-
ods in dierent aspects, such as classication based on the type of
resource, on the properties of the biomass or on the disposal methods.
However, there lacks a reasonable and comprehensive classication of
the municipal biomass. Thus, this paper proposes a method for the
classication of municipal biomass. The municipal biomass is divided
into three categories referring to origins and characteristics: municipal
Y. Li et al.
solid waste, municipal sewage and urban wood biomass. A ner
classication is then made. MSW is divided into organic waste and
inorganic waste. The urban wood waste in classied into municipal
green waste and waste wood product. The municipal sewage is divided
into industrial liquid waste and sanitary sewage according to their
origins.
It is found that the property of municipal biomass diers a lot in
developing and developed countries. The origins of MSW in Asian areas
are dierent as compared to European areas, and the basic disposal
methods are diverse. When compared to Asian areas it was found that
MSW in European areas has a higher percentage of paper, metal and
glass yet a lower portion of kitchen waste and plastic. Moreover, MSW
in European areas has lower moisture content and higher caloric
value. The caloric value in European areas ranging from 14.4 to 19.9
MJ/kg is higher than that in Asia areas ranging from 7.1 to 19.1 MJ/
kg.
Based on proximate, ultimate and caloric value analysis, the three
biomass categories have been analysed. Generally, the caloric values
for municipal solid waste, municipal sewage sludge and urban wood
waste are 7.119.9 MJ/kg, 8.7319.1 MJ/kg and 16.9621.59 MJ/kg
accordingly that are lower than coal, which is 1527 MJ/kg. After
comparative study with municipal solid waste and municipal sewage
sludge it was observed that urban wood biomass has a higher average
content of xed carbon and volatile matter and a lower concentration of
ash content, which results in a higher caloric value. The average ash
content of municipal sewage sludge is slightly higher than the other two
biomass categories, which should be carefully considered in the point
of environment protection. It is necessary to take an after-treatment
process.
Since the municipal biomass may apply signicant inuence on the
infrastructure construction, facility siting and price setting, it is
essential to estimate its resource amount in urban areas. The estimat-
ing methods is divided into three categories: i) measurement method;
ii) semi-empirical methods; iii) advanced modelling. The measurement
methods include statistical methods for municipal solid waste, ow-
meter measurement for municipal sewage and biomass remote sensing
for urban wood biomass. Semi-empirical methods include the hand-
book method and the allometric method, which applies to urban wood
biomass exclusively. Mostly two advanced modelling methods are
widely used to estimate municipal biomass resources, which are
articial neural network and multiple linear regression. Advanced
modelling has been used for all three types of municipal biomass,
multiple linear regression has been gradually replaced by articial
neural network models because articial neural network modelling can
achieve better performance and more precise results.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the Key project of the Natural Science
Foundation of China for international academic exchanges under the
Contract No. 5151101162. The support from the Walt Disney Company
(Shanghai) Limited is also appreciated.
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