‘ ‘

TECHNOLOGY TO ACHIEVE ‘NET ZERO’

On the Road to Net Zero:

Carbon Capture and

Energy from Waste

carbonclean.com
carbonclean.com 01
 ‘‘ ‘‘

Contents

Introduction: Energy from Waste

Chapter 1: Key Facts

Chapter 2: Addressing Industry Needs with CCUS

Chapter 3: CycloneCC — An Ideal Solution

Chapter 4: A Changing Industry

Chapter 5: Energy from Waste and CCUS in Action – Veolia

Chapter 6: Reaching Net Zero

carbonclean.com 02
 ‘‘ ‘‘

Introduction: Energy from Waste

When it comes to achieving net zero, energy security, and a circular economy, the Energy from Waste
(EfW) sector is a cornerstone industry of the future.

EfW technology generates energy as electricity and/or heat from the processing of unrecyclable
municipal and commercial waste. With growing populations, urbanisation and consumption, the EfW
sector can help meet increasing energy demands and tackle the expanding waste problem. It also
plays a key role in extracting resources from waste that have valuable industrial uses, helping further
improve sustainability.

EfW has the potential to change how we power our communities. But while EfW plants emit
significantly less CO2 due to the renewable organic content than fossil fuel plants, they do generate
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As EfW adoption grows, so will the amount of carbon emissions
generated by the sector. A solution to reduce these emissions is imperative.

carbonclean.com 03
 ‘ ‘

The Solution: Carbon Capture, Utilisation,

and Storage (CCUS)
CCUS has the potential to make EfW facilities a net zero or even net-negative carbon emissions
source. Yet the footprint and growing nature of EfW plants means they face specific decarbonisation
challenges, including space and cost.

Carbon Clean’s CycloneCC is the ideal carbon capture solution for the EfW industry. CycloneCC is
a fully modular technology that can be quickly deployed in a small space and scaled to increase
capacity as needed. Not only are its prefabricated units easy to transport and install, they are
standardised and optimised for EfW plants.

Combining EfW with modular carbon capture technology provides a much-needed pathway to
sustainability and net zero targets, while also improving energy security.

carbonclean.com 04
 ‘ ‘

Chapter 1: Key Facts

EfW is an essential industry in the fight against climate change, helping to tackle two problems at
once: reducing reliance on fossil fuels, while also reducing waste.

By turning non-recyclable waste into a secure energy supply and valuable raw materials in an
environmentally safe manner, EfW is one the of the most effective alternative energy sources. In a
time of increasing energy insecurity, EfW has a critical role to play, producing energy that can be
used for industrial processes, district and municipal heating and cooling, and electricity supplied to
the electric grid.

EfW is also a hygienic method of waste treatment that reduces the overall volume of waste by 90%
while also removing pollutants from circulation 1, helping to reach the targets set in the EU Landfill
Directive.² By recycling metals and minerals from bottom ash leftover from the incineration process,
EfW also helps with the recovery of valuable raw materials that can be reused in construction and
manufacturing. EfW plants also help to reduce methane emissions by diverting waste from landfills. A
2021 UN Report suggested EfW offers the largest potential for reducing methane emissions in Europe
– key for reducing GHG emissions and mitigating global warming.³

carbonclean.com
carbonclean.com 05
05
 ‘ ‘

The Value of Energising Waste

European EfW plants provide a local source of reliable (baseload) energy that complements intermittent
renewable energy sources such as wind or solar while at the same time treating non-recyclable waste.

EfW plants in In cities with good district heating

Europe generate enough infrastructure in place, like Brescia,
electricity to supply almost Malmö or Klaipėda EfW covers 50% or
more of the heating needs. Around 10%
19 million people of Europe’s energy provided to district
per year. heating networks comes from EfW.

The amount of primary energy generated As of 2019, there were

by EfW in 2019 was equivalent to

13.8 billion m 3
of natural gas.
499 EfW facilities
in Europe
This corresponds approximately to 9% of the
natural gas imports to the EU from Russia: 155 with the most in France (124), Germany
billion m3 in 2021 .4 (100), and the UK (48).⁵

1. https://www.newestccus.eu/facts-about-waste/key-facts
2. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A31999L0031
3. https://www.ccacoalition.org/en/resources/global-methane-assessment-full-report
4. https://www.cewep.eu/wte-local-energy-europe/
5. https://www.cewep.eu/waste-to-energy-plants-in-europe-in-2019/

carbonclean.com 06
 ‘ ‘

Energy from Waste in Europe 2019

Over 2
billion tonnes of municipal By 2050, it is forecast that over
solid waste (MSW) 3.40 billion tonnes
is generated annually worldwide, and this figure is of MSW
increasing each year. This is driven by rapid urbanisation,
will be generated each year.⁶
growing populations, and rising living standards.

carbonclean.com
carbonclean.com 07
07
 ‘ ‘

Scaling Treatment Capacity

EfW is on the rise: In 2020, As of 2021, 2500 EfW By 2027, it is forecast that
104 new plants were installed, plants were active there will be an additional
with a total treatment capacity worldwide with a waste 200 plants, raising the
of more than disposal capacity of around waste disposal capacity to

34.8 million 420 million 530 million

tonnes per year. ⁷ tonnes per year. tonnes per year. ⁸

Dealing With Carbon Emissions

In 2018, incinerators in the EU added some 95 million tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere (2% of
total EU emissions and two thirds of overall emissions from the waste sector).⁹

However, the solution is not to scale back EfW. Instead the industry can tackle its own emissions
using carbon capture technology, and in doing so can achieve carbon-neutral, or even carbon-
negative status.

6. https://datatopics.worldbank.org/what-a-waste/
7. https://www.ecoprog.com/publikationen/abfallwirtschaft/waste-to-energy.htm
8. https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2021-Global-Status-of-CCS-Report_Global_CCS_Institute.pdf
9. https://network.bellona.org/content/uploads/sites/3/2021/10/Waste-incineration-and-Carbon-Capture-and-Storage.pdf)

carbonclean.com 08
 ‘ ‘

Chapter 2: Addressing Industry Needs

with CCUS

Carbon capture technology can significantly reduce the amount of CO2 emitted by EfW plants during
waste incineration. The nature of EfW means that CCUS is a singularly effective solution when it
comes to abatement.

The MSW that is processed in an EfW plant varies — it will be comprised of both biogenic (plant-
derived) and non-biogenic (fossil fuel derived) materials. Both sets of material will release CO2 in an
EfW plant, but only the non-biogenic emissions increase the net CO2 in the atmosphere, given that
the CO2 released from plant-based waste has already been captured by the plant.

If a carbon capture plant captures more than the non-biogenic fraction of the total emissions, then
the EfW facility will become a net-negative emitter of CO2.

Applying CCUS technologies to 50% of the European EfW capacity and capturing 50% of the total
CO2 emissions would result in 20m tonnes of CO2 saved every year. 10 That’s a huge opportunity to
reduce the European EfW industry’s contribution to GHG emissions.

WtE's contribution to the energy cycle annually - Source CEWEP data, 2019 (Graphic from
WASTE-TO-ENERGY CLIMATE ROADMAP: The path to carbon negative by CEWEP)
carbonclean.com 09
 ‘ ‘

Producing a Valuable Resource

While there is too much of it in the atmosphere, there’s a shortage of CO2 for industrial use. CO2 is a
valuable resource for a host of industries, and captured CO2 is a great alternative to industrial CO2
synthesis, which uses natural gas — now in short supply.

The uses of CO2 are myriad: in greenhouses to boost plant growth; in building materials such as
concrete; in the production of organic chemicals that make up solvents, synthetic rubber, and plastics,
as well as the creation of synthetic fuels; in the production of carbon materials such as graphene,
carbon nanotubes, and carbon fibres; as well as food and drink production.

10. https://www.endswasteandbioenergy.com/article/1790573/europes-efw-sector-targets-carbon-negative-status-cewep

Energy from Waste Requirements

A viable carbon capture solution for the EfW sector must address the
following challenges:

Limited Footprint
Since EfW plants are smaller than traditional large-scale power
plants, they need compact solutions.

Easily Scaled
With new EfW plants on the rise, scalable carbon capture
solutions are beneficial.

Easy to Transport
The dispersed nature of EfW plant locations means carbon capture
solutions have to be easy to transport.

Rapidly Deployed
Getting operational quickly with minimal downtime is crucial given
the continuous pace of EfW plants.

Cost Effective
Plants need a form of CCUS adoption that gives them access to a range of
financial incentives and the cost benefits to support the business case.

carbonclean.com
carbonclean.com 10
 ‘ ‘

Chapter 3: CycloneCC — An Ideal Solution

Carbon Clean has developed a unique carbon capture technology that is ideally suited and
optimised to EfW plants. CycloneCC is a fully modular carbon capture solution based on two proven
process intensification technologies: Carbon Clean’s advanced, proprietary amine-promoted buffer
salt solvent (APBS-CDRMax®) and rotating packed beds (RPBs).

Together, they maximise the contact area and optimise the absorption of the CO2 on the flue gas
into the solvent. By integrating these two technologies, CycloneCC reduces the overall costs and
footprint of the carbon capture plant by up to 50% whilst matching the capture rates of conventional
carbon capture methods.

Benefits of CycloneCC
Footprint
Modular and prefabricated, CycloneCC mass transfer equipment is 10x smaller and its
overall footprint is more than 50% smaller than conventional carbon capture units, ideal
for EfW plants given they have limited space on site.

Scalability and Speed of Installation

Skid-mounted, each CycloneCC unit will be delivered ready to install and can be fully
operational in less than eight weeks. This minimises site disruption and safety concerns
and facilitates faster permitting. It is also easily scalable, using standardised designs.
Fast deployment means EfW plants can quickly start reducing their emissions.

Affordability
CycloneCC reduces CapEx and OpEx by up to 50%, driving down the cost of carbon
capture. Carbon Clean is targeting hitting on average $30 per tonne captured by 2025 – a
cost that is well below the current EU carbon price, making the economic case for CCUS
undeniable. Because of CycloneCC’s modular design, plants can add units in line with their
decarbonisation trajectory, phasing the investment required to achieve their goals.

Handling Mixed Source Emissions

Diverse feedstocks from different waste sources lead to varying CO2 concentrations
and trace components in the flue gases of EfW plants. Carbon Clean has extensive
technical expertise in the treatment and conditioning of flue gases with a range of
contaminants, and can customise solutions for EfW plants.

carbonclean.com
carbonclean.com 11
 ‘ ‘

Chapter 4: A Changing Industry

Laying the Groundwork in the UK

In order to achieve net zero targets by 2050, all industrial sectors will need to decarbonise as much as
possible and EfW, in particular, plays a key role in this transition. As different nations and regions aim
for net zero, official recommendations are addressing non-recyclable waste. In the UK a report by the
Climate Change Committee (CCC) makes it clear that decarbonising non-recyclable waste is essential to
delivering net zero.11

Waste sector emissions accounted for 6% of UK GHG emissions in 2018. While this number has fallen
dramatically over the past two decades, due to a reduction in landfill waste, it has not improved since
the mid-2010s, as recycling has plateaued and emissions from EfW have grown. The CCC recommends
several measures for reducing emissions from waste, including increasing composting and recycling, but
it also emphasises the need for installing carbon capture at EfW plants.12

The good news is that the economic case for carbon capture in the UK EfW sector is likely to be stronger
than it is in other industrial sectors, given the high number of EfW plants that are located close to
potential carbon capture clusters and port hubs.13

The UK government expects that CCUS will initially develop in clusters around industrial emitters that
have access to suitable offshore storage locations. There are currently 48 operational EfW facilities in
the UK (with a further 16 under construction) and, of these, 15 are within 30km of potential CCUS clusters
and 14 are within 30km of a potentially suitable port.14

This presents a significant opportunity to not only decarbonise the waste sector and deliver negative
emissions, but to help drive wider deployment of CCUS at scale in the UK — and could lay the
groundwork for similar approaches in other countries.

11. https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Sector-summary-Waste.pdf
12. https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Sector-summary-Waste.pdf
13. https://www.eunomia.co.uk/reports-tools/ccus-development-pathway-for-the-efw-sector/
14. https://www.eunomia.co.uk/reports-tools/ccus-development-pathway-for-the-efw-sector/

carbonclean.com 12
 ‘ ‘

EfW's Contribution to the Energy Cycle Annually

[kg CO2 eq/tonne waste treated]

Source CEWEP data, 2019 (Graphic from

WASTE-TO-ENERGY CLIMATE ROADMAP: The path to carbon negative by CEWEP)

carbonclean.com 13
 ‘ ‘

Regulations Pushing an EfW Evolution

The EfW sector globally is seeing a host of changing regulations and initiatives. Each will play a role
in making EfW a key player in the global push to net zero, acting as an impetus for integrating CCUS
technology into the EfW industry, and bringing EfW into the global carbon economy.

Some regions are leading the way with notable regulations regarding the EfW sector and setting
incentives and legislation in place for carbon capture:

Europe
The European Parliament recently approved the inclusion of municipal
incinerators within the scope of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
(ETS) as of 2026. The decision entails pricing fossil CO2 emissions from
municipal waste incinerators.15
Sweden
Sweden’s carbon tax has risen since its inception in 1991, and stands at SEK 1
200 (EUR 118) per tonne and includes incinerated waste.16 The programme is
intended to contribute to Sweden’s national climate targets and to deliver a
more resource-efficient and non-toxic waste management system.

UK
Plans to expand the UK ETS to include EfW and waste incineration by
the mid to late 2020s are currently in discussion, with the intention
of strengthening financial incentives for decarbonisation in the EfW Singapore
sector.17 The Committee on Climate Change — advisers to the UK
government on carbon policy — recommends that carbon capture In 2019, Singapore was the first country in Asia Pacific to introduce a carbon

and storage (CCS) technology be installed on waste incinerators in tax. It’s set to increase that tax by fivefold to S$25 ($19)/tonne in 2024,

the future to meet UK Paris Agreement commitments and keep CO2 to S$45 in 2026 and 2027, and to between S$50 and S$80 by 2030.

emissions below the 1.5°C global warming target. The tax applies to any facility that produces 25,000 tonnes or more of
GHG emissions annually. As of 2025, businesses will also be able to buy
international carbon credits to offset up to 5% of their taxable emissions.18

The incentives and regulations being introduced globally will drive the EfW sector to
decarbonise at pace. The next generation of carbon capture technology will be crucial if
they are to achieve this transformation.

15. https://business-review.eu/greenrestart/european-parliament-approves-the-inclusion-of-municipal-incinerators-in-ets-as-of-2026-232299
16. https://www.government.se/government-policy/swedens-carbon-tax/swedens-carbon-tax/
17. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1067125/developing-the-uk-ets-english.pdf
18. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/singapore-hike-carbon-tax-by-five-fold-2024-2022-02-18/

carbonclean.com 14
 ‘‘ ‘‘

Chapter 5: Energy from Waste and

CCUS in Action – Veolia
A groundbreaking 10 TPD demonstration project is now underway that represents a significant step
forward in enabling EfW plants to power and heat the low carbon cities and communities of the future.

In 2017, Carbon Clean partnered with Veolia, a global leader for optimised resource management.
In February 2021, the partnership announced the first carbon capture trials in UK Energy Recovery
Facilities (ERF), using Carbon Clean’s latest carbon capture technology. The 10 TPD mobile CycloneCC
demonstration plant is the first of its kind, proving that CycloneCC is an affordable modular carbon
capture solution for EfW.

Veolia currently operates 10 UK plants that transform some 2.3 million tonnes of non-recyclable waste
into electricity for over 430,000 homes. The combined generating capacity of 180MWe not only eases
the pressure on the already stretched UK electrical grid, but effectively avoids using fossil fuels.

A portion of these plants also produce heating for communities through district heating networks,
using combined heat and power technology. An estimated 20% of the nation’s carbon emissions are
generated by domestic heating. Deploying CCUS technology greatly increases EfW-generated heating’s
ability to reduce carbon emissions. As Aniruddha Sharma, CEO of Carbon Clean, notes:

The mobile CycloneCC unit will provide us with essential, operational understanding
and data, allowing us to establish detailed technology and economic evaluations for
various industrial flue gases. This is key for future commercial deployment.

Aniruddha Sharma
Chair and CEO, Carbon Clean

Once the Veolia project is complete, the mobile unit developed will be relocated to multiple different
host sites, each with its own composition of flue gas. This allows the technology to be trialled in different
operating scenarios. There are plans to expand the project in the future, with CEMEX, Holcim and
Chevron all expressing support to host at sites around the world.

carbonclean.com 15
 ‘ ‘

Concurrent Test Campaigns

In addition to the Veolia and Carbon Clean partnership project,
Carbon Clean’s R&D team has concluded test campaigns at
three other EfW plants: two in Europe, and one in the US.

These test campaigns have further demonstrated the value of

using Carbon Clean’s proprietary APBS-CDRMax® solvent for
EfW-specific flue gases. Results showed a 15% reduction Results showed a 15% reduction
in energy demand, relative to baseline conditions. in energy demand, relative to
baseline conditions.
As James Hall, Head of Research at Carbon Clean, explains:

APBS-CDRMax® solvent has been used for CCUS projects in the UK, US,
Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Spain, and India. At Carbon Clean we have
carried out a detailed R&D programme over the last decade for the solvent
characterisation, optimisation and solvent management considerations —
particularly solvent degradation, corrosion, emissions and continuous absorption
and desorption testing. This next stage of testing is allowing further optimisation for
EfW specific flue gases, with a particular focus on the influence of impurities present
upon solvent stability. From testing APBS-CDRMax solvent with an EfW flue gas,
minimal degradation has been observed.

James Hall
Head of Research, Carbon Clean

carbonclean.com 1616
 ‘ ‘

Chapter 6: Reaching Net Zero

EfW has a unique opportunity to contribute to net zero targets. With CCUS, EfW can transform from a
growing source of carbon emissions to a carbon-neutral or carbon-negative industry. An EfW sector that
utilises carbon capture technology offers enormous benefits to municipalities, stakeholders, and the
planet, as we face the challenges of sustainable waste disposal, energy security, and decarbonisation.
Mitigating both waste and carbon emissions is a net win for everyone.

Carbon Clean’s standardised, modular CycloneCC solution is a perfect fit for the unique needs of EfW
plants, providing an economical and scalable path to decarbonisation. The early success of projects are
clear indicators that CCUS-enabled EfW is more than promising — it’s viable.

As with any industry, early movers who adopt carbon capture technology will reap the most benefits,
from providing industry leadership to winning incentives and avoiding penalties. Together, EfW and
CCUS are a powerful combination for sustainability and the energy transition.

Get in touch to discuss how

CycloneCC may be a fit for your EfW
plant and decarbonisation goals.

SPEAK WITH A SPECIALIST

carbonclean.com
carbonclean.com 1717
 ‘ ‘

TECHNOLOGY TO ACHIEVE ‘NET ZERO’

Looking for more information

on CycloneCC?

GET THE FREE EBOOK

carbonclean.com
Copyright @ Carbon Clean Limited All Rights Reserved

carbonclean.com 18