Wim de Jong: CO2 als grondstof, een kwestie van lange adem

Wim de Jong: CO2 as a feedstock, a long-term issue

06/06/2023

Rapidly reducing CO2 emissions to limit further global warming is the biggest challenge for this century. We can achieve this by no longer using coal, oil and natural gas as energy sources. In some industrial processes, but also in energy recovery from non-recyclable waste streams, it is sometimes difficult to reduce CO2 emissions quickly. In that case, it is also possible to capture the CO2 and store it in empty gas fields or use it as a new raw material. Twence is committed to both options.

As early as 15 years ago, we started developing and deploying technology to capture and reuse CO₂. Initially to gain small-scale experience with CO capture.₂ (3,000 tonnes/year) to make a slurry of sodium bicarbonate (baking powder) using soda. This baking powder was used to clean flue gases from the combustion process. In this way, we gained knowledge on applying and improving CO₂-capture technology needed to responsibly produce CO₂ capture at our waste-to-energy plants.

The next step was to reuse the CO₂ in practice. To this end, Twence realised an installation in 2020 to test the CO₂ to volatilise, with the aim of making the liquid CO₂ as feedstock to greenhouse horticulture. Here, it is important to be able to ensure that the CO₂ meets all quality requirements that are also necessary for delivery from a large-scale capture facility.

Large-scale capture facility

The stringent emission standards that apply in the operation of waste-to-energy plants provide additional scope to meet the highest quality standards for CO₂ and find applications for both the fossil and biogenic parts (over 60 %) of the captured CO₂. This is the basis for the construction of the large-scale capture facility for CO₂ (100,000 tonnes/year) which will be commissioned at the end of this year with the support of a DEI grant from the Dutch government. Over time, we aim to capture CO₂ at all our power plants.

Applications

Importantly, next, the application possibilities that Twence has come to realise over the past five years, such as mineralisation of CO₂ with olivine, electrochemical conversion of CO₂ to formic acid and synthetic methanol production with CO₂ and H₂, be further developed technically. This will allow technology companies to take their product to the market and more alternatives to sequestering CO₂.

Growth Fund

A contribution from the Growth Fund to FutureCarbonNL to promote these technology developments and build a manufacturing industry for this technology in the Netherlands could help reuse CO₂ greatly accelerate. Thus, to complement recycling of materials and deployment of bio-based raw materials, carbon chains with CO₂ close and capture valuable CO₂preserved as raw material for new materials.

In this way, let us prevent a long-standing issue from turning into the hot breath on our backs of climate change.

Wim de Jong
(Advisor Market & Strategy at Twence)

News summary