Energy-from-Waste Plants with CCS offer the potential to deliver high quality carbon removals

Isometric’s paper describes how EfWs, when combined with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) could generate high quality, highly durable removal credits in the UK.

EfW combined with CCS can capture and permanently store its CO2 emissions, 50% of which is biogenic. With over fifty operational EfW plants in the UK (and more development), this presents a significant opportunity for scaling carbon removals.

The paper outlines the challenges for generating high quality removal credits, describing a rigorous approach to monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) including:

• Quantification of carbon dioxide storage
• Determination of counterfactual carbon dioxide storage for biogenic feedstock
• Allocation of project greenhouse gas emissions for mixed biogenic and fossil carbon dioxide streams
• Minimizing and accounting for potential leakage
• Applying sustainable feedstock sourcing principles
• Satisfying financial additionality requirements while considering gate fees and participation in government business models

Detailed work is still needed to develop the framework and methodology, with specific project verification subsequently. The report highlights that EfWs coupled with CCS have the potential to generate high quality CDR credits, likely to carry a high value in the Voluntary Carbon Markets.