The plant is designed to produce 24,000 tonnes per year (30 million litres) of bioethanol and generate more than 3MW of electricity from over 100,000 tonnes per year of biodegradable household and commercial waste.
Peter Williams, CEO of INEOS Bio, said, “Using our technology, the waste that is collected from homes and offices and otherwise thrown away, can be re-cycled into clean biofuel for cars and renewable electricity for homes and industry.”
Subject to final agreements, the plant is due to be completed by 2012. Once operational, it is intended the facility will be expanded into a larger integrated biorefinery, combining advanced bioenergy production with advanced waste treatment by 2015.
The grant follows the successful completion of a detailed feasibility study by INEOS Bio, using its BioEnergy Process Technology. This combines thermochemical and biochemical technologies to achieve energy-efficient and low-cost biofuel production from a wide range of biomass materials, including household and industrial waste.
At the heart of the INEOS Bio technology is an anaerobic fermentation step, through which naturally occurring bacteria convert gases derived directly from biomass into bioethanol. This bioethanol production is integrated with combined heat and power generation. The process supports high recycling and high landfill diversion rates and an independent assessment indicates that the bioethanol produced would deliver 100 per cent greenhouse gas savings compared to using petrol.
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