enfinium to roll out carbon measurement tech by end of year

The technology will also be installed at its two sites currently in construction in Kelvin and Skelton Grange from 2025. 

The Energy from Waste (EfW) operator said it hopes the radiocarbon dating technology 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 in a range of sectors, from archaeology through to human health. When applied to EfW facilities, it can determine the amount of biogenic or fossil-derived CO2 emitted from waste feedstock.  

enfinium said it hopes to be able to calculate the amount of durable carbon removals its facilities will generate in the future – which it said will be “critical for the sale of carbon credits in the voluntary and compliance carbon markets and for reaching net zero”. 

In May this year, 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. 

The carbon-14 measurement equipment was supplied by ENVEA and has been trialled at enfinium’s Kemsley facility since January this year.  

Jane Atkinson CBE, chief operating officer at 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.”