Beyond Net-Zero Carbon
Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is a key technology in the quest for net zero. Naser Odeh and Josh Dalby tell RQ how biochar, a by-product of some biomass pyrolysis, can help improve the quality and sustainability of the food on our plates.
Link to the excerpt from the Spring 2022 edition of RQ here:
Our new Bluebox-80 hot air turbine design now includes an integrated control system co-developed with #Bilfinger simplifying integration with low carbon heat sources. The first unit has just landed in Korea for testing ahead of installation as part of a #greensteel project. Now looking forward to building the follow-on units for Biochar facilities in the UK and Germany.
Very nice to see Bluebox in the Ricardo annual statement:
“Ricardo’s carbon-capture experts are collaborating with Bluebox Energy to deliver innovative new technology solutions that support the transition to a low-carbon future. The consortium has won a
national competition to design a commercial, community- scale greenhouse-gas removal system fed by waste from the forestry sector. The system will significantly reduce noxious emissions and enable waste heat and sequestered carbon products to generate revenue streams for industry and local communities and achieve negative emissions”
BlueboxEnergy is excited to announce the kick-off of a joint green steel development project in Korea to develop an energy recovery system for a steelworks. The pilot stage will use a single Bluebox-80 hot air turbine alongside heat exchangers supplied by a Korean manufacturer with testing planning in late 2021. Providing the pilot testing is successful, the commercial stage involves 3 x Bluebox-330 units to increase capacity to 1MWe.
Together with Ricardo Bluebox Energy have won funding through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio to design a community scale greenhouse gas removal system.
The consortium combines Bluebox Energy’s hot air turbine technology which already provides renewable energy to homes, business parks and agriculture, with Ricardo’s expertise in carbon capture technologies. The consortium will develop a highly innovative greenhouse gas removal technology called BIOCCUS, which will produce Biochar and also provide renewable heat and electricity for towns, villages and agriculture as well as sequestering the carbon dioxide from the flue gas.
The technology works by taking sustainably sourced waste wood from domestic timber production and then processing it in three ways: producing Biochar; generating heat and power; and capturing and storing the carbon dioxide. The technology, captures up to 95% of the carbon dioxide absorbed by the trees and supplies local homes and businesses with renewable heat and electricity. It also produces commercially marketable Biochar which can be used by farmers for animal feed and to enrich soil, and the carbon dioxide can be used for low-carbon concrete all of which attract valuable carbon credits that can be traded.
The SeaCleaners are developing the MANTA ship, an Ocean going vessel capable of continuously collecting and processing large quantities of macroplastics floating on the surface of our oceans. The SeaCleaners have selected Bluebox Energy’s hot air turbine to use the Syngas produced from the plastic pyrolysis to produce power to support the ship’s systems as well as the heat needed to dry the plastic prior to pyrolysis. Engineering work has already started and is expected to be complete in 2021, build is planned for 2022, with testing the year after.
Ricardo’s energy team has today signed an agreement to collaborate with Bluebox Energy Ltd to deliver innovative new low carbon technologies that support the transition to a low carbon future
National government targets, such as the UK’s to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, are helping to drive both the public and private sector to develop strategies and invest in processes and technologies that will enable organizations to deliver a low carbon future. Innovation in heat and energy technologies is critical to the achievement of net zero ambitions, and this has been the driving force behind a new collaboration between Ricardo and Bluebox Energy.
The two companies have extensive experience and expertise in delivering a range of energy-based technology and process innovations, including Ricardo’s use of renewable and sustainable energy management for key infrastructure, such as introducing solar to power rail networks and Bluebox Energy’s development of hot air turbine technology.
The agreement was signed by Dipak Mistry, director of Ricardo’s energy services and Jonathon McGuire, director of Bluebox Energy.
On the collaboration Dipak Mistry commented: “The extensive experience and complementary capabilities of both Bluebox Energy and Ricardo will enable us to drive innovation that is key in tackling the significant carbon challenges faced by both the public and private sectors. We’re proud to be working with Bluebox Energy to help address some of the world’s most pressing challenges”.
Jonathon McGuire, Bluebox Energy director added: “Even in the short-time we’ve been working together, we’re already seeing a number of opportunities for us to develop innovative technology-based solutions that can drastically reduce carbon. The combined expertise of both companies will enable us to make the ambitious carbon reduction targets achievable. We’re now looking forward to making a real difference together.”
We were delighted to have been asked to present to the Portsmouth City Council’s energy team. At the event, we introduced a number of CoGeneration solutions that would benefit Portsmouth residents and business’s including the HLT-100 biomass cogeneration system and the BioChar carbon capture solution currently being developed with our smaller hot air turbines.
Link to presentation
A busy few days at European Utility week presenting initial results from the CAPTure project. Looking forward to commissioning the installation over the coming couple of weeks.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 640905.