Defra keen to see greater use of CHP

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has outlined its desire to see more high efficiency energy from waste (EfW) plants in operation, producing both energy and heat.

This is among a number of policy areas on EfW infrastructure, outlined in an updated version of the Departments Energy from Waste: A guide to the debate, published today (February 26).

The document is an updated version of guidance published 12 months ago, aimed at tackling the poor historical image of EfW facilities in the UK (see letsrecycle.com story).

In a new chapter entitled Future Policy Direction Defra outlines what it sees as the key principles around energy from waste policy that are likely to remain critical in the future.
Among the issues outlined is the need to reduce the environmental impacts of EfW facilities and ensuring that energy recovery is the best solution for any residual waste that is being treated via the energy recovery route.

In the document, the Department stated: Energy outputs such as heat and transport fuels are expected to decarbonise much more slowly than electricity. In addition, delivery of heat from energy from waste can be done at much higher efficiencies than electricity only. Plants that operate in combined heat and power (CHP) mode will therefore be able to continue to be superior to landfill, with longer plant lifetimes and using waste streams with a much wider range of biogenic content into the foreseeable future.

A key consideration therefore needs to be focussing on development of energy outputs beyond electricity, both for new plants and ensuring existing plants that are CHP ready become CHP in use.

Energy

Defra added: As a partially renewable energy source focussing outputs on heat and on transport fuels also aids the decarbonisation of these more difficult energy types. There is therefore a consistent rational across both waste and energy policy for steering waste towards the most efficient plants and increasing focus on these outputs (and by implication moving away from an electricity only energy from waste model).

The government has previously instructed planning authorities to favour the development of EfW plants that can capture both electricity and heat through planning guidance published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in July 9 (see letsrecycle.com story). DCLG claimed that while many plants are built CHP ready there is a lack of available users of heat primarily due to the location of plants.