LAWR

ENERGY RECOVERY plants is that they can be located in areas where there is potential for heat to be fully utilised locally. We expect that Government will encourage the take up of heat, so it is important that plants are located where there is, or will be, demand. Challenges There are other important developments within the gasification sector, including the filtration of syngas to enable alternative uses. One of the major challenges for filtration is the tars that are produced, which condense from the syngas. Equally challenging is the feedstock, which reflects the mixture of materials used in our modern world. Many of these evaporate during gasification, only to re-condense and solidify as the syngas is cooled. Progress is being made and, importantly, Energos is positioned to take advantage of this as it becomes commercially viable. We already understands how to manage the production of syngas and future use of oxygen rather than air will minimise nitrogen dilution, increasing the calorific value of the syngas closer to that of natural gas, opening up further potential uses. Importantly Energos gasification can process a wide range of residual waste be it solid recovered fuel, refuse derived fuel or crude waste with minimal pre- treatment, or combinations of these. This flexibility will become increasingly important in a competitive market as it brings down the overall cost of waste management and as the residual waste characteristics change with the changing habits of consumers. The cost of treating waste is usually justified by the recovered recyclates. Any additional treatment to meet a fuel specification just increases the overall cost of waste management. Regardless of how refined a waste derived fuel is, unless the treatment process separates the hydrocarbons from the other components, the challenges presented by these materials will be the same as if the waste is unprocessed. Increased source selection of recyclable material will result in decreasing recovery rates from residual waste streams and they may no longer warrant the cost of further treatment. Processes that require expensive pre-treatment will therefore be disadvantaged. Catching the eyes of the world The global potential for EfW is extremely exciting as other regions around the world implement more sustainable waste management policies. It will not be just the likes Energos but the whole EfW arena that benefits, from large scale conventional facilities in densely populated areas, to increased use of AD in countries that mainly generate wet organic waste, to gasification employed at small scale in towns and smaller cities. The most obvious growth regions for medium-term development are the Eastern European countries that need to implement EU legislation. Many of these countries have smaller cities that don't justify large conventional EfW and don't have the transport infrastructure necessary to consider large centralised schemes. Many also have established district heating schemes which will enable enhanced efficiency. In addition to Eastern Europe, there is a latent need in Southern Europe; where it is now becoming undeniable that a final thermal treatment stage cannot be avoided if they are to comply with EU diversion targets. In particular, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece have significant capacity gaps. Outside Europe, interest is gathering pace in North America, Australia and South America. Then there is Asia: Mega Cities require large centralised plants so it will be some time before smaller scale plants reach their agendas. The potential rolling effect of the implementation of sustainable waste management policies and tighter emission control should enable long terms sustainable growth to be delivered by successful technology suppliers. Nick Dawber is managing director at Energos. Artist impression of Derby integrated waste facility including Energos advanced thermal conversion facility. Energos' ACT facility will process 120,000t of RDF. Energos' energy recovery facility in Sarpsborg, Norway. The advanced thermal con- version facility treats non-recyclable commercial and industrial waste. 20 Local Authority Waste & Recycling October 2014

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