Yorwaste Ltd, Northallerton, North Yorkshire - Services - Energy from Waste

Energy from Waste

Yorwaste is building a revolutionary power plant at Seamer Carr, near Scarborough in North Yorkshire, to generate electricity and heat from domestic rubbish.

The advanced technology project is being developed as part of the New Technology Demonstration Programme run by the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) and is being largely funded by Defra, private investors and Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency.

The project involves the use of the most advanced flash pyrolysis technology to convert the non-recyclable element of domestic rubbish into a gas that can then be used as fuel for a power generation engine. The facility at Seamer Carr, which is due to become operational in autumn 2008, is believed to be the first of its kind in the world. It is designed to process approximately 18,000 tonnes per annum of bio-degradable municipal waste into fuel, which will in turn be converted into a synthetis gas (Syngas) that has similar characteristics to natural gas. This gas will be used as fuel to generate more than 2 MW of electricity - enough for more than 2,000 homes.

Electricity from landfill gas

Our sites in York, Scarborough & Scorton all have facilities to capture landfill gas & generate electricity. The methane gas is captured from wells across the sites, filtered into manifolds and fed down to an energy plant. The plants produce about 6 MW to the national grid. Under optimum conditions, one tonne of waste can produce up to 150-200 cubic metres of gas. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is considered to be 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Its recovery and utilisation from landfill sites therefore reduces methane emissions as well as off-setting the use of electricity generated.

Energy from Waste Wood

Some of our shredded waste wood is processed at a small biomass turbine. The plant provides enough electricity to the power requirement for about 450 homes. The plant runs on waste wood material gathered from the local area. The fuel includes low grade wood waste and it will thermally treat about 8,500 tonnes per year.