Start turning planet’s carbon waste into fuel

THE recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) should be a stark wake-up call. Unless we deal with our carbon problem, we face the prospect of runaway global warming.

Whatever action we take, every pathway to limit global warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius involves the use of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology, such as bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

The waste-to-energy sector could hold the answer. Humans will always produce carbon-based waste from things like food, farming and sewage. We need to stop considering waste an overhead and more of an infinite resource.

Instead of burning waste to produce electricity (which can be produced more cleanly using solar and wind) we should use waste to produce hydrocarbon fuels, offsetting carbon in the process.

Breakthroughs in synthetic fuel production technology from anaerobic digestion mean we can now use the carbon and methane in everyday waste to make high-grade transport fuels, such as petrol, diesel and jet fuel.

Using the 31.8m tonnes of biodegradable waste produced in the UK every year could displace over two billion litres of fossil fuels annually.

MATTHEW STONE By email

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