Resource management company, Veolia have successfully trialled the UK’s first non-amine carbon-capture technology.
The trial at Sheffield Energy Recovery Facility in partnership with C-Capture, tested a non-amine solvent discovered by researchers at the University of Leeds.
Amine solutions are used in most carbon capture plants to extract the carbon from CO2.
The problem is these volatile liquids are not only toxic but if they escape into the atmosphere can cause extra warming by combining with nitrogen in the air.
This new technology captures CO₂ from the facility’s flue gases before they are released into the atmosphere using a solvent that can then be regenerated and reused.
Donald Macphail, Chief Operating Officer at Veolia UK said: “Carbon capture is one of the tools available to help decarbonise residual emissions where they cannot yet be avoided.
“However, achieving net zero also requires continued progress in waste prevention, recycling and circular economy solutions to reduce emissions at source.
“Technologies such as this are designed to complement – not replace – those priorities.”
The project also assessed the role that carbon capture technologies can play in decarbonising hard-to-abate emissions. Once rolled out, the production could be used as a solution alongside waste prevention and increased recycling.
Greg Searle, Commercial Director at C‑Capture said: “Successfully operating our technology at the Sheffield site is a major milestone.
“It demonstrates not only the scalability of our non‑amine approach, but also its real‑world advantages in energy efficiency, cost, and safety.”
Rather than be a standalone answer to climate change, the project forms part of Veolia’s wider research and development into a range of carbon capture techniques.
Large-scale deployment of this method will rely on a continued public investment as the company capture one-tonne of carbon-dioxide daily, if successful it could provide £5 billion to the UK economy annually.
