enfinium, a leading UK energy from waste operator, will roll out new carbon measurement technology across all of its operational sites by the end of 2024, which will enable the measurement of carbon removals once carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is installed across its fleet in the future.
Radiocarbon dating – also known as carbon-14 dating – is used successfully in a range of sectors, from archaeology through to human health. When applied to energy from waste facilities, it can determine the amount of biogenic or fossil-derived CO2 emitted from waste feedstock.
Around 50% of the unrecyclable waste produced by society is currently made up of biogenic content, such as food, plants and soiled paper or card, which has naturally absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere when growing and releases it back when transformed into energy.1 When combined with CCS technology, the biogenic CO2 can be stored permanently underground rather than released, resulting in the net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere.
By measuring the amount of CO2 generated from biogenic sources, enfinium will be able to robustly calculate the amount of durable carbon removals its facilities will generate in the future. In May, enfinium’s Net Zero Transition Plan set out an ambition to lead an investment of £1.7 billion to install CCS across its operational facilities, creating up to 1.2 million tonnes of carbon removals a year in the process.
Carbon-14 measurement equipment, supplied by ENVEA, has already been successfully trialled at enfinium’s Kemsley facility since January 2024 – the only EfW facility with a Contract for Difference in the UK. enfinium will install the technology across all four of its operational sites by the end of this year. It will also be installed at the two sites in construction, Kelvin and Skelton Grange, when commissioned from 2025.
Jane Atkinson CBE, Chief Operating Officer, enfinium said: “enfinium is transitioning into a carbon removals business and with carbon capture and storage technology deployed across our facilities, we could generate over 1.2 million tonnes of durable carbon removals every year.
Robust monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions is critical to scaling the carbon removals market and building confidence from buyers, investors and policymakers. By using carbon-14 technology, we will be able to measure the amount of biogenic carbon we are capturing and storing from society’s unrecyclable waste.”
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1 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that biogenic matter (of which half of their feedstock is) is carbon neutral at the point of combustion and therefore if you capture that carbon at source it becomes negative. The CCS technology will capture and permanently store underground carbon dioxide that was taken from the atmosphere as the biogenic material grew.
About enfinium
enfinium is a leading UK energy from waste operator with four operational sites in the UK, in West Yorkshire, Kent and Flintshire, and two in construction. enfinium diverts 2.3 million tonnes of unrecyclable waste from climate-damaging landfill, putting it to good use by turning it into home grown energy, enough to power 500,000 UK homes. enfinium’s ambition is to transform its facilities into local ‘decarbonisation hubs’ powered by the millions of tonnes of unrecyclable waste the UK will produce for decades to come. Using existing energy from waste infrastructure, enfinium could contribute to heat networks, produce electrolytic hydrogen, or use carbon capture technology to provide durable, high quality carbon removals which will be critical for the UK to achieve net zero by 2050. For more on enfinium, please visit www.enfinium.co.uk.
