[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6772\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ETurning landfill into energy\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s thanks to a process called gasification, which involves turning carbon-based materials into gas by heating them to a high temperature but without burning them. The gas can be stored until it is needed for the generation of electricity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to its developers, advanced gasification can be fed by plastic, biomass, textiles \u2013\u0026nbsp;just about anything except metal and rubble. Out of the other end comes syngas \u2013 a clean, easily combustible gas made up of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe basics of the technology are old. Back in the 19th century, gasification plants existed in many of Europe\u2019s major cities, turning coal into coal gas for heating and lighting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGasification waned after the discovery of natural gas reserves early last century. Then in the past 20 years or so, it had a small renaissance, as gasification plants sprung up to process waste wood.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a new, advanced implementation, however, a much broader range of materials can be processed, and the output gas is much cleaner. \u2018Gasification is clearly gaining a lot of traction, but we\u2019ve taken it further,\u2019 said Jean-Eric Petit of French company CHO Power, based in Bordeaux.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018We think we\u2019re the first to crack it.\u0026#039;\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EJean-Eric Petit, CHO Power, France\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERenewable\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGasification involves heating without combustion. At temperatures greater than 700\u00b0C, a lot of hydrocarbon-based materials break down into a gas of carbon monoxide and hydrogen \u2013\u0026nbsp;syngas \u2013\u0026nbsp;which can be used as a renewable fuel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor materials such as wood, this is relatively straightforward. Try it with other hydrocarbon materials, and especially hard-to-recycle industrial waste, however, and the reaction tends to generate pollutants, such as tar.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut tar itself is just a more complex hydrocarbon. That is why Petit and his colleagues have developed a higher temperature process, at some 1200\u00b0C, in which even tar is broken down.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe result is syngas without any added pollution. In fact, it is clean enough to be fed directly into high-efficiency gas engines, generating electricity with twice the efficiency of the steam turbines used with conventional gasification, says Petit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECHO Power has already built an advanced gasification plant in Morcenx, France, which converts 55,000 tonnes of wood, biomass and industrial waste a year into 11 megawatts of electricity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn December \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/research\/index.cfm?pg=newsalert\u0026amp;year=2017\u0026amp;na=na-201217\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Ethe EU announced\u003C\/a\u003E that the company will receive a \u20ac30 million loan from the European Investment Bank to construct another plant in the Thouarsais area of France.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe company is not the first to attempt advanced gasification on a commercial scale. But, said Petit: \u2018We think we\u2019re the first to crack it.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECHO Power\u2019s gasification plants still need to have waste delivered to them. Hysytech, a company in Torino, Italy, however, plans to bring gasification to industry\u2019s door.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe idea is to build a small gasification plant, processing at least 100 kilos per hour of waste, next to any industrial plant that deals with hydrocarbon materials \u2013 a textiles or plastics manufacturer, for instance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThen, any waste the industrial plant generates can be turned straight into syngas for electricity generation on site, avoiding the emissions associated with transporting waste to a centralised gasification plant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022 class=\u0022@alignleft@\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022The gas produced by CHO Power\u0027s gasification process is refined at 1,200\u00b0C in their turboplasma facility (left) so that it can be used in a gas engine (right) to generate electricity. Credit - CHO Power\u0022 height=\u0022660\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/crop%202_small.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022The gas produced by CHO Power\u0027s gasification process is refined at 1,200\u00b0C in their turboplasma facility (left) so that it can be used in a gas engine (right) to generate electricity. Credit - CHO Power\u0022 width=\u00221200\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EThe gas produced by CHO Power\u0027s gasification process is refined at 1,200\u00b0C in their turboplasma facility (left) so that it can be used in a gas engine (right) to generate electricity. Credit - CHO Power\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESmall-scale\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe problem is that, historically, gasification on this scale has cost too much to be in an industry\u2019s interests. But Hysytech believes it has made small-scale gasification cost effective, by developing a novel reactor known as a fluidised bed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen waste materials are fed into this reactor, a fluid is passed through them to create an even temperature and to allow the gas to leave easily. If the materials need a lot of time to turn to gas, they remain in the reactor until they are gasified, but the fluid can be sped up if the materials turn to gas quickly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe result, for smaller plants at least, is a more efficient and cost-effective process. \u2018Our system is designed and built to operate year-round with a good efficiency, easy operation and little maintenance,\u2019 said Andr\u00e9s Saldivia, Hysytech\u2019s head of business development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHysytech has made a pilot plant that has about one-tenth the envisaged output, processing 10 kilos of waste an hour into syngas. Currently, its engineers are constructing a full-sized demo plant that will include an additional power-to-gas system, to link the gasification to surplus energy from wind turbines and solar panels.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith this additional system, the surplus energy is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Together with syngas, these gases generate methane, which can be used like everyday natural gas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Our goal is to have it ready for the market (by) 2019,\u2019 said Saldivia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bit.ly\/newsalertsignup\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/news-alert-final.jpg\u0022 alt width=\u0022983\u0022 height=\u0022222\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIf you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022moreinfoblock\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ch3\u003EThe Issue\u003C\/h3\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EInnovative European start-ups can often fail to get funding to build the large-scale prototypes needed to develop their ideas into commercially viable technology. This means they can fall into the so-called valley of death between technological innovation and commercialisation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s one of the reasons that the EU, the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank run an initiative called \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eib.org\/products\/blending\/innovfin\/index.htm\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EInnovFin\u003C\/a\u003E, which provides loans, guarantees and equity funding to innovators that may otherwise struggle to secure financing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore than\u0026nbsp;EUR\u0026nbsp;300 million has been earmarked for the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eib.org\/products\/blending\/innovfin\/products\/energy-demo-projects.htm\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EInnovFin Energy Demonstration Projects\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;financial instrument, to facilitate the market uptake of new innovative low-carbon energy technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs well as the InnovFin Energy Demonstration Project programme, InnovFin also includes initiatives such as the InnovFin SME Guarantee Facility and InnovFin SME Venture Capital.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-ujznc83piwzp9xynqxrba9-uk0nflvogq9lkelmlupk\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-ujznC83pIwZP9xYnQXrba9_uK0NflVoGQ9lKelmluPk\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]