It aims to work on the enhancement of pyrolysis – the chemical decomposition of condensed substances by heating – to process waste biomass to produce a “greener and cheaper alternative” to existing biofuels at mass scale, to blend with fossil fuels.
Set up by government-backed body the Carbon Trust, the consortium claims a key advantage of developing a process which will use existing organic waste, rather than plant crops, is that it overcomes many of the issues associated with some current biofuels and can lead to even greater carbon savings by avoiding methane emissions from landfill.
Carbon Trust analysis shows that the carbon footprint of this new pyrolysis biofuel could potentially achieve a carbon saving of 95% when compared to fossil fuels. This has been noted as a “significantly higher” carbon saving than some existing biofuels, which also do not currently factor in the impacts of land use change when calculating the carbon saving.
The consortium aims to produce its first biofuel from a pilot plant in 2014 and claims that there is potential, using UK biomass alone, to scale production to over two million tonnes per year.
This is expected to generate a saving of seven million tonnes of carbon – the equivalent to the annual emissions of three million cars.
Existing plans to use pyrolosis to treat waste include tyre recycling firm PYReco announcement in 2008 that it aimed to build “Europe's first” tyre recycling plant based around the technology by the end of this year (see letsrecycle.com story).
RFTO
According to UK legislation, in the form of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), forecourt petrol and diesel must include a 3.25% blend of biofuels. The Carbon Trust also notes that by 2020 an EU directive will see this figure rise to 10%.
It claims that pyrolysis not only potentially offers the lowest cost production route of any biofuel technology (between £0.30 and £0.48 per litre of diesel biofuel), but could also meet over half of the 2020 RTFO target.
Commenting on the announcement of the consortium, transport minister, Sadiq Khan, said: “We are committed to ensuring that transport fuels are cleaner, greener and less carbon intensive.
“Many biofuels, such as those from waste, have the potential to provide significant carbon reductions. The challenge is identifying and developing those biofuels which deliver the most environmental benefits. This is exactly what we are doing by leading the way in conducting research into biofuel sustainability and production.”
He added that research like this, which will receive government funding of £3.8 million over two years, would enable the UK to get the best possible carbon savings out of biofuels.
Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said: “Genuinely sustainable biofuels will be critical to help reduce the UK's transport emissions. By developing a method which overcomes the issues associated with some existing biofuels the UK has a vital role to play.
“In just a few years pyrolysis could change the way in which we produce biofuels and by 2020 be a commercially viable option. Within a decade we could see a network of mini biofuel refineries sited near landfill sites and other waste sources across Britain. This unique consortium demonstrates the UK's strength in a crucial low-carbon technology and could lead the world in developing the cheapest and greenest of biofuels.”
Funding
The Carbon Trust is investing £7 million over three to four years into the consortium using funding from the Department for Transport and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
Register for free to comment