Energy Firm Offers Radical Waste Treatment Option

Waste2Tricity, a London energy firm, is aiming to implement radical new fuel cell technology in order to convert waste materials into electricity.

First on Waste2Tricity’s agenda is the creation of a relevant facility, capable of handling 50,000 tonnes of waste per annum. The intended location of this site is not yet known, but it would be able to process both commercial and domestic-generated waste and, from it, produce a gas with a high hydrogen content from which, in turn, electricity could be produced.

Fuel Cell Technology

Once the facility is up and running, the firm intends to make it more energy efficient by substituting fuel cell technology for the internal combustion engine that would power it initially.

It is anticipated that the site’s development will last three years and, financially speaking, need £50 million in initial funding.

Waste2Tricity is now looking for investors to help it progress its venture forward, with a future aspiration of gaining substantial waste treatment market share, and of running more than 100 waste-to-electricity sites.

The firm was established at the end of last year, and its board of directors includes two prominent figures associated with the environment and with waste – ex-Shadow Environment and Transport Secretary Tim Yeo, and ex-Biffa director Peter Jones OBE, who is also a member of the London Waste and Recycling Board.

Alternative Waste Treatments

Mr Jones highlighted how - the government having signalled its intent to modify the ROC (Renewable Obligations Certificate) process of subsidising embryonic renewable energy types - Waste2Tricity’s proposition represents an appealing alternative form of waste treatment.

From the beginning of April, hi-tech gasification – as per the technology being proposed by Waste2Tricity –would be given twice as many ROCs than better-known environmentally friendly schemes.

“This system would mean gate fees for waste are a thing of the past - companies will be bidding for waste”, Mr Jones explained.

“The double ROCs you get, along with feed-in tariffs, heat incentive tariffs, electricity, heat and gas prices mean you could see non-recyclable waste worth £200-£300 per tonne.”

The site will basically treat MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) through gasification – applying oxygen and heat to create a gas, and then directing this gas into the internal combustion engine for electricity production purposes. 24 months down the line, this engine would be removed, and alkaline fuel cells put in its place. As a result of the switch, the treatment applied to the waste would consist purely of hydrogen.

Producing electricity in this way, says Waste2Tricity, could potentially lessen energy production-associated CO2 emissions, as well as provide the waste industry with a viable alternative to landfill use.

In terms of efficiency, the company claims that 2,100 Kilowatts would be able to be produced from a single tonne of MSW.

Image copyright of Waste2Tricity