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Veolia has launched a site feasibility study ahead of a pilot project to use innovative carbon capture processes in energy recovery facilities (ERF) in the UK, which could deliver greater sustainability to marine and aviation transport, and achieve ecological transformation for these industries.
Developed with the aim of producing green fuels by capturing, extracting and purifying CO2, it can create synthetic green end products, such as eKerosene, eMethanol and specialty chemical products to transform the sustainability of the wider transport industry.
The system, which has been engineered by Veolia’s in-house design teams, uses Advanced Amine technologies to capture carbon emissions from the combustion of non recyclable biogenic waste, which is present in about 60 per cent of the carbon dioxide emissions generated as a result of the incineration process. The biogenic Carbon Dioxide can be combined with green hydrogen to create fuels such as eMethanol and Sustainable Aviation Fuel, reducing the carbon intensity of shipping and air travel.
According to Veolia, the carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) implementation project has the potential to enable its Energy Recovery Facilities in the UK to make carbon savings of over 100,000 tonnes per year. As part of the highly innovative project, the CCUS technology can be seamlessly integrated into existing energy recovery sites, resulting in near-zero, or even negative, CO2emission power generation, thus significantly improving the environmental and energy balances of municipal waste incineration.
Commenting on this new technology, Donald Macphail, Chief Operating Officer – Treatment, at Veolia said: “This latest innovation marks a major step forward in our ability to utilise non recyclable waste and captured CO2 to create the next generation of fuels. This development, combined with greater recycling and the removal of plastics from waste streams, will further reduce carbon emissions from ERF. It will also make a major contribution to meeting net zero targets that protect the environment for the future, and supports our commitment to achieve ecological transformation.”
Veolia operates 10 ERF in the UK. These facilities take around 2.3 million tonnes of non-recyclable waste and transform this into electricity for over 400,000 homes. This combined generating capacity of 180MWe takes pressure off the stretched UK electrical grid and effectively avoids using fossil fuels for generation. Some of these facilities also produce heating for communities through district heating networks, by using combined heat and power technology.
