Project Swindon Advanced Biofuels Plant

Project Owner... Advanced Biofuels Solutions Ltd  
Project name Swindon Advanced Biofuels Plant  
Status on hold  
Startup 2022  
Geodata
Country United Kingdom  
City Swindon  
Production
Type TRL 8 First-of-a-kind commercial  
Technology Fuel Synthesis  
Technology additional information ABSL RadGas and Wood VESTA technology  
Raw Material organic residues and waste streams  
Input 1 Refuse derived fuel and waste wood (8,000 t/y )  
Output 1 SNG (1,500 t/y )  
Output 2 hydrogen (500 t/y )  
Output additional information SNG and/or Biohydrogen  
Additional Information
Total Investment GBP 30,000,000  
Funding GBP 11,000,000  
Funding Explanation 11 million pound sterling public funding  
Technology Brief The facility will accept 8,000 tonnes per year of waste from the local area and convert it into 22GWh, or 2.2 million cubic metres, of natural gas, enough to heat 1,800 homes or fuel 75 HGVs. The plant will also produce 6,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide to be liquified for use in industry and 400 tonnes of vitrified ash for use as an aggregate. The process is made up of the following steps: 1. Prepared waste is brought to the site in a moving floor trailer and then stored 2. The waste is conveyed to an oxy-steam fluidised bed gasifier to produce a dirty syngas 3. The dirty syngas is heated and exposed to oxygen free radicals to catalyse the reformation of tar 4. The tar free syngas is cooled with steam raised used elsewhere in the process 5. The gas is filtered to remove particulates and then scrubbed to remove acid and alkali contaminants 6. The clean syngas is compressed and then passed over catalysts to convert it into natural gas and carbon dioxide 7. The carbon dioxide is separated and liquified 8. The remaining natural gas is metered into the grid The process equipment has been installed and integrated on site and commissioning is underway. Commissioning is due to complete in 2021. Once it is operational the plant will act as a template for large scale commercial facilities.  
Additional Information Please see www.absl.tech and www.linkedin.com/company/advanced-biofuel-solutions-ltd. Biohydrogen is a low carbon fuel that does not generate any carbon emissions when it is used. The RadGas process delivers hydrogen at a lower price than competing technologies with far greater greenhouse gas savings. Hydrogen is seen as the fuel of the future for sectors that cannot convert to electricity such as industrial high heat applications or heavy goods transport. Organisations such as Shell, BP and Air Products are investing heavily in hydrogen technology. Low carbon hydrogen can be produced by the following processes: a. Green Hydrogen is made by the electrolysis of water using renewable electricity. b. Blue hydrogen is made by reforming natural gas and sequestering the carbon dioxide produced in long term geological storage. c. Biohydrogen is made by reforming wastes and residues. Each of these technologies have their own strengths and weaknesses and each will play a role in decarbonising the energy sector. The key advantages of biohydrogen are: 1. Greenhouse gas emissions associated with biohydrogen are low. When biohydrogen is combined with carbon storage it generates significant negative emissions. 2. Using fossil natural gas as a reference, GHG savings from biohydrogen can be three times greater than savings from green or blue hydrogen. 3. Biohydrogen produced from wastes has a lower cost than blue hydrogen, which requires fossil fuel feedstocks, and green hydrogen, which has high capital costs. 4. Biohydrogen production is constant across the year while biohydrogen production is intermittent, driven by the availability of renewable electricity. 5. Biohydrogen is sustainable, renewable and forms part of the circular economy. 6. Biohydrogen can be produced at relatively small scales to match demand as the market develops. 7. Biohydrogen can be produced close to hydrogen consumers, avoiding expensive transport costs. ABSL will demonstrate the production of biohydrogen at the Swindon plant. The facility can switch between biohydrogen and BioSNG production on demand. This flexibility will allow the plant to supply hydrogen projects as the market develops.  
Contact Information
Tel: 01793 832 860 Unit A4, Marston Gate South Marston Industrial Estate Stirling Road Swindon SN3 4DE UK  
Last Update: 2025-05-06 12:10:05