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Green fuel from waste producer wins £4m funding to capture CO2

Compact Syngas Solutions (CSS), a Deeside-based green fuel producer, has developed an advanced gasification process that generates hydrogen gas from waste products, including biomass like waste wood and other selected non-recyclable materials, that would otherwise go to landfill.

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Compact Syngas Solutions has won almost £4 million from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to test a method of capturing carbon from its clean fuel process.

The £3,979,113 funding secured from the Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (H2BECCS) Innovation Programme run by DESNZ, will be invested in developing a carbon capture method that will make its plants even greener.

Removing process CO2

CSS, who previously won a first round of funding of £246,568, employs technology to convert waste into syngas, a valuable gas that can be used to produce hydrogen for use as a fuel to deliver emission-free transport. The new funding will help CSS build a full-scale rig to show that water can be used to separate and store carbon dioxide during the process. This has previously been achieved with amines, a potentially harmful compound derived from ammonia.

Removing the carbon dioxide reduces the carbon footprint of the hydrogen produced and makes the process more efficient. The syngas, once separated from the hydrogen, is also used in a gas engine that generates energy to power the process and export surplus to the grid, maximising outputs from the system.

During the project, the rig will run continuously for 1,000 hours, reliability testing the technology and getting it ready for commercialisation. Every day, a single module will produce 750kg of hydrogen – enough to fuel a fleet of HGVs – and capture around 1,600kg of carbon dioxide.

Full-scale rollout could see 50 UK modules built at around 15 sites, ranging from a single module to six per site offering the flexibility to suit local demand. These 50 modules will annually produce 11,000 tonnes of hydrogen and capture 29,000 tonnes of CO2.

Scaling up

Paul Willacy, managing director of Compact Syngas Solutions, said: “Winning a second round of funding is an incredible achievement for the team, as we were up against some stiff competition.

“We are delighted that we can now scale up technology into a commercial-scale demo plant, and we are actively looking for further investment to support rollout in the next couple of years.

“Capturing and storing the carbon from our gasification process and the hydrogen we produce will support the drive to Net Zero and lower the environmental impact of producing this green fuel at scale.

“Hydrogen has a very low environmental impact, but this project will help deal efficiently with the CO2 that emerges during its production.”