Professor Jim Swithenbank told a Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport forum conference last week (June 9) that, while it was important to reduce, reuse and recycle as much waste as possible, there would always be a residue which needed to be sent for energy recovery.
And, he urged the government ahead of the publication of its waste review to prioritise Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and district heating which he said had proven very successful elsewhere.
CHP generates electricity while also producing renewable heat and is much more efficient than some other processes.
Professor Swithenbank said: Many cities worldwide are using CHP technology with the exception of the UK… Two thirds of buildings in Denmark are on district heating. Vienna has over 1,100 metres of district heating installed in an old city.
Heat
He added that there were currently around 20 plants in UK cities which were producing heat which was being wasted.
Pointing to a CHP scheme in Sheffield operated by Veolia ES Sheffield which provides district heating to 15% of residents he said: The Sheffield CHP system demonstrates the viability of CHP in the UK. Incinerators have unused heat in UK cities now that could save some 1 million tonnes of CO2 a year.
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