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4 Evaluation of Opportunities for Converting Indigenous UK Wastes to Fuels and Energy AEA/ED45551/Issue 1 1 Executive Summary Main Conclusions The UK has a large resource of waste materials that could be used for renewable energy. Data on municipal solid waste composition and arisings is very good; however data for industrial and commercial arisings is poor. Processes that deliver heat, or combined heat and power with a high heat to power ratio, give excellent greenhouse gas abatement potential. To maximise the benefit installations need to be sized to match the energy demand, rather than the tonnage of waste, resulting often in smaller installations in a multiplicity of locations. These will require the use of fuels with consistent properties such as graded wood chip, or solid recovered fuels. Processes for the production of these fuels should be regarded as important enabling technologies. Their technical development should be supported as should their introduction in to the market as a traded commodity such through the development of standards and codes. Anaerobic digestion for the treatment of food and other wet organic waste is technically viable and has substantial environmental benefits when the product gas is used to fuel combined heat and power installations or is cleaned for injection into the natural gas distribution system. There is however a potential barrier to future progress due to the constraint on land availability for the disposal of the digestate posed by its nitrogen content, in additional to its economic feasibility in a number if situations. Combustion remains the default technology for energy generation. Gasification processes are less developed but those that burn the product gas in a boiler seem to be a robust option with some advantages over conventional combustion. Considerable work is currently underway to develop and demonstrate the production of transport fuels from biomass and waste using gasification. It is likely to be several years before these technologies make an impact on the UK market. The production of pipeline gas by gasification and methanation shows great potential but there is little data on the benefits of the process in particular the use of the high grade heat available from the methanation reactor. The majority of thermal gasification and pyrolysis processes require regularly sized, consistent feedstocks underling the importance of the development of a market for traded waste fuels. NNFCC can make a very useful contribution by building on its strengths in information provision and communication with stakeholders. The NNFCC tasked AEA with delivering an Evaluation of Opportunities for Converting Indigenous UK Wastes to Fuels and Energy. Such a study requires an investigation of the UK waste arisings by type and by region, combined with an in depth consideration of the technologies available to convert such wastes and how their adoption might best be encouraged. This study is an important element in developing the NNFCC’s position with regard to waste utilisation options. The findings will enable the NNFCC to develop an appropriate and effective insight into the waste situation and market in the UK, and how it might be used as a resource to derive energy and fuels.
Evaluation of Opportunities for Converting Indigenous UK Wastes to Fuels and Energy AEA/ED45551/Issue 1 The NNFCC’s current focus is materials and energy from crops, and as a proportion of the UK’s waste arisings originate from agricultural activities, the opportunity therefore exists to develop a strong and coherent position on the utilisation of these wastes to generate energy and fuels. To fulfil the objectives of the task set for this study we therefore need to understand a number of aspects of the current and future waste industry. The most important are • the character and extent of the waste resource, • the status of those energy technologies with improved resource efficiency, and, • the benefits that their adoption might bring. • Following the review of technologies we considered what role NNFCC might have in realising the benefits. 1.1 The character and extent of the waste resource In this study the wastes that have been identified as having the potential for conversion to fuels and energy have been subdivided as follows: • Municipal solid wastes (MSW) • Commercial and industrial wastes (C&I) • Construction and Demolition (C&D) • Bio-Solids (Sewage Sludge) • Agricultural o Wet residues o Dry residues • Forestry Residues The total UK waste arisings of all types were estimated to be 335 million tonnes in 2004 and 307 million tonnes in 2005. This includes nearly 100 million tonnes of minerals waste from mining and quarrying, and 220 million tonnes of controlled wastes from households, commerce and industry. Household wastes represent about 9 per cent of total arisings. Historically, waste arisings have been shown to grow in line with, or even above, the level of economic growth. However, the continuation of this trend is now considered to be unsustainable, and thus the sixth Environment Action Programme 1 set an objective to achieve a decoupling of resource use from economic growth through significantly improved resource efficiency, dematerialisation of the economy and waste prevention. The premise of this study is that much of the waste that is currently disposed of through conventional incineration or to landfill could be used more efficiently as a feedstock for more efficient generation of heat and power, pipeline gas, or the production of transport fuels. To investigate this we first consider each waste resource from the viewpoint of its origin then from the perspective of its content of material that could be used for fuels. Municipal Solid Waste comprises a very large range of materials, and total waste arisings are increasing. Recycling initiatives decrease the proportion of waste going straight for disposal, and the level of recycling is increasing each year. Most growth forecasts use a growth rate of 0.75% per annum. Commercial and Industrial waste is also comprised of a very large range of materials. Overall levels of industrial waste are decreasing, while levels of commercial wastes are increasing. Again, recycling initiatives decrease the proportion of waste going straight for disposal, and the level of recycling is increasing each year. Growth rates have been taken as 1% per annum for commercial waste, and 0% per annum for industrial waste. 1 The Sixth Environment Action Programme of the European Community 2002-2012, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/newprg/index.htm 5
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South East 327 - - 55% of MSW by 20
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Appendix 3 MBT Methods Specific in
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Figure 27 Orchid Environmental proc
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