Energizing the future: Unleashing the potential of innovative waste-to-energy technologies for energy development and sustainability within Zimbabwe’s tourism sector

Abstract

Zimbabwe’s tourism industry, renowned for its natural wonders and cultural heritage, faces a looming energy crisis rooted in the detrimental over-reliance on fossil fuels and the underutilization of substantial waste resources that lie dormant. The article investigates multifaceted relationship between six independent variables: landfill gas recovery and anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis and gasification, incineration, biogas production, biodiesel production, ethanol production and syngas fermentation and one dependent variable: energy development and sustainability. In this study, a quantitative methodology was adopted, involving the gathering of data from 519 stakeholders in the tourism supply chain through a simple random sampling technique, with the sample size determined using the Krejcie and Morgan table. The distribution of questionnaires was facilitated through Google Forms, and the data analysis was conducted using Smart PLS. Statistical findings indicate direct significant relationship between variables, and t-statistic values all hypotheses were all greater than the threshold of 1.96, ranging from a minimum of 2.911 to a maximum of 9.431. These findings underscore the robustness of the relationships between the waste-to-energy technologies and energy development and sustainability within Zimbabwe’s tourism sector. This empirical evidence highlights the substantial potential for these innovative technologies to play a pivotal role in mitigating the energy crisis and fostering sustainable energy development.