The Environment Agency’s decision is thought to mark a “major leap forward” for plans to decarbonise Encyclis’ Protos Energy Recovery Facility (ERF), which is currently being built near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, North West England.
When complete, the carbon capture facility will enable around 350,000 tonnes per year of CO2 emissions from the waste treatment plant to be permanently locked away.
As well as supporting homegrown energy, Encyclis hopes the project will generate new employment opportunities and strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader at a time of rapid supply chain growth.
‘Real-world action’
Encyclis CEO Owen Michaelson said: “The imperative to cut greenhouse gas emissions demands real-world action, not just words. We are proud to be at the forefront of efforts to decarbonise energy-from-waste. As a company, we own and operate essential social infrastructure that processes non-recyclable household and commercial waste – converting it into baseload electricity, heat and other reusable resources. Carbon capture is one of a series of steps needed to decarbonise our public sanitation service.
“The confirmation of the first environmental permit on a carbon capture project on an EFW in the UK is a fantastic achievement. It is a credit to the work of our team and the officers at the Environment Agency. They have worked closely together to establish the framework for all future permit applications, which need to follow to meet the UK’s decarbonisation ambitions.”
The Protos carbon capture project was selected earlier this year to progress in Track-1 of the industrial decarbonisation cluster programme being led by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.
Utilising the planned HyNet North West pipeline, the CO2 captured at the plant will be transported for storage in depleted gas fields in Liverpool Bay. Protos ERF will offer the capacity to process up to 500,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste.
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