The article presents a literature review about energy generation based on solid waste exploitation. In recent years, climate changes have affected the environment by the human life-style. Engineering should facilitate transformation processes of solid waste as energy and power generation source to reduce the negative impacts by the high-level production. Publication source was based on ScienceDirect® and Scopus® and we realized a bibliometric data analysis in a timeline between 2013 to 2018 using original articles to identify research trends. Some countries such as Malaysia, India, China and Norway have demonstrated their interest on research and implementing new energy generation options to decrease use and generation of fossil energy. Implementation of efficient standards and technologies to generate clean energy is required in the Colombian context. It is recommended to contrast academic studies and government studies to contrast points of view.