This report assesses the potential for generating negative emissions from WtE + CCS with focus on the European waste sector as a case study.
This study shows that if the entire existing European WtE fleet (i.e. 100.9 Mt of installed capacity) was retrofitted with CCS, negative emissions in the range of -50.5 to - 70.6 MtCO2/y would be generated per year, assuming a capture rate close to 100%. In its 2019 sustainability roadmap, CEWEP anticipates a total of 142Mt of residual waste generated in 2035 when meeting the thresholds for recycling (minimum of 65%) and landfilling (maximum of 10%) in accordance with the EU Circular Economy Package. It may admittedly not be possible to bridge the current ~30Mt gap in WtE capacity needed to treat the remainder of this residual waste, as some existing WtE plants come to the end of their life and others are newly commissioned. Yet, in theory, if enough WtE capacity where to be built and is retrofittable with CO2 capture, a range of -71 to -99.4 MtCO2/y of negative emissions can be achieved. When CCS limitations are considered, these ranges are naturally reduced, with a range between -20 to -30 MtCO2/y achievable when all CCS considerations are taken into account.
WP5 Results
D5.4 Techno-economic analysis of the potential market for waste-to-energy with CCUS technologies
Download Report (7.66 MB) Report on the technical comparison of the investigated WtE CCUS technologies
This document and accompanying data is available on request from Prof. Mathieu Lucquiaud (m.lucquiaud@sheffield.ac.uk) or Dr Camilla Thomson (c.thomson@ed.ac.uk).
This report compiles and analyses key findings and results from the process simulations in order to conduct a comparative technical assessment of the investigated technologies in this project on the basis of several key performance indicators (KPIs).
Two municipal solid waste combustion technologies are considered: (i) an air-fired moving grate boiler and (ii) an oxy-fuel combustion circulating fluidised bed boiler, both equipped with heat recovery for steam generation and electricity production in the steam turbines. For the WtE facility with a moving grate boiler, two post-combustion capture technologies are investigated: (i) amine-based chemical absorption with an aqueous solution of monoethanolamine (MEA) and with 2nd generation solvents and (ii) Membrane assisted CO2 liquefaction.
The KPIs considered in this comparison include energy consumption, carbon capture rate, cost analysis, operational availability and flexibility, capacity and versatility of feedstock, etc. These are categorized into quantitative and qualitative indicators in order to consider a broad range of factors affecting the feasibility of implementing carbon capture technologies in WtE facilities. This assessment presents some key metrics that are important and relevant for CCUS for WtE sector, policy makers, regulators and technology developers.
D5.2.2 - Results from oxy-fuel CFBC process simulations
At the Institute of Combustion and Power Plant Technology (IFK) of the University of Stuttgart, experimental tests with solid recovered fuel (SRF) were performed using a pilot-scale circulating fluidized bed oxy-combustor (oxy-CFBC). In parallel, a full-scale oxy-CFBC waste-to-energy (WtE) plant was designed using Aspen Plus®. The model was subsequently validated to serve as a computer tool to predict the oxy-combustion process’ behavior under various operational conditions. In this deliverable, the performance of the full-scale model is evaluated upon changes in (i) fuel composition, (ii) oxygen concentration in oxidizer and flue gas, and (iii) extent of gas pollutant treatment.
The results included in this study contribute to a better understanding of the fundamental oxy-fuel knowledge with alternative fuels and may serve to guide future process design and scale-up.
Download Report (2.74 MB)