Copyright CPI 2010. All rights reserved 1 LOW CARBON ENERGY AND WASTE North East Recycling Forum Prof Graham Hillier, CEng, FIMMM, FRSA Director of Strategy

Copyright CPI 2010. All rights reserved 1

LOW CARBON ENERGY AND WASTE

North East Recycling Forum

Prof Graham Hillier, CEng, FIMMM, FRSADirector of Strategy and Futures

Centre for Process Innovation

28th January 2010

From innovation to commercialisation2

• The Resource Challenge

• We need a Behaviour Change

• Start Thinking of Waste as a Resource

• Making Waste Management Part of Our Future

Content


The Resource Challenge

Dealing with:• Growing Population

– Inexorably increasing the need for food and shelter

• Growing Affluence– The amount of emissions rise with affluence and we use more

• Resource Consumption– There is only a finite resource it will not last for ever

This Puts Immense Stress on a Finite System


Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere Rises with Population

Carbon Dioxide Concentrations Year on Year(Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

250

270

290

310

330

350

370

390

1830 1880 1930 1980

Atm

osp

her

ic C

arb

on

Dio

xid

e (p

pm

v)

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

Po

pu

lati

on

(M

illi

on

s)

Carbon Dioxide Emissions (ppmv) Population

Source: Mauna Loa Observatory plus historic data from ice cores


Earth

Incoming Energy

Resources Used

Earth Resource Balance Prior to 1850

Resource Builds up as Use is less than Incoming Energy


Earth

Incoming Energy

Resources Used

Earth Resource Balance Since 1850

Resource Use exceeds Incoming Energy

Extract Resource

Refine Resource

Use Resource

Scrap Resource

Waste

Air Emission

Water Emission


UK Wastes Data: Controlled Wastes 2008

56.7

46.8

27.8

135

Landfilled Transferred Treated Metal Recycling Incineration

• A Total of 150 Million Tonnes• A Lot Still Gets Landfilled• What Happens to Transferred?


Organic Wastes: 2007

30 Million to 40 Million Tonnes of Useful Organic Waste

UK Government’s Business Task Force on Sustainable Consumption & Production, March 2008


Resource Availability

Many Important Elements Are in Short Supply

Element Available Resource Recycling Rate

Indium 4-13 Years 0%

Silver 9-29 Years 16%

Lead 8-42 Years 72%

Antimony 13-30 Years -

Tin 17-40 Years 26%

Uranium 19-59 Years 0%

Zinc 36-46 Years 26%

Gold 36-45 Years 43%

Nickel 57-90 Years 35%

Chromium 40-143 Years 25%

Phosphorous 142-345 Years 0%

Platinum 42-360 Years 0%

Aluminium 510-1027 Years 49%Source: New Scientist, May 2007


Resource Demand in A Simple Equation

We Need to Become More Efficient in Our Use of ResourcesNorth East: Highest Residual Waste per Household – 727kg

Second Lowest Recycling Rate – 31.1%

CO2 Emissions = Population x Gross Domestic Product x Energy Used x CO2 Emission Population GDP Energy Used

Waste = Population x Gross Domestic Product x Resource Used x Waste Made Population GDP Resource Used

Based on work by Shell scenario planning group and DEFRA data 2008/9


As Engineers We Have to..

• Develop more sustainable processes

• Use resources more efficiency

• Improve the efficiency of our processes

• Look at the efficiency of integrated systems

• Convert wastes to products

• Convert batch processes to continuous ones

Top Six are Increasingly Strong Political and Economic DriversBottom Two are Our Areas of StrengthThere is a Lot We Can Do


WE NEED A BEHAVIOUR CHANGE


Approaches to Improved Energy Efficiency, Resource Efficiency and Carbon Reduction

Significant Improvements can be Made

Reduce resource use

Operate the process you have as well as possible so resource use is

as low as possible

Use highly efficient conversion technologies

Add on additional technologies

Reduces • Resources Consumed• Cost• Emissions• Wastes

Increases• Efficiency of Resource Use

Requires• A Different Way of Thinking• Less Conventional Technology


Sustainability in Practice: A Schematic for Manufacturing

Raw Material Component End of LifeSystem

Recycle Recondition Re-furbishRe-use

AssembledProduct

Resource Efficient Flexible & Adaptable Design


START THINKNIG OF WASTE AS A

RESOURCE


The Steel Mini-Mill

• Completely changed the complexion of the steel industry

• Uses locally arising scrap to supply a local market

• Capital reduced by an order of magnitude, operating costs are low

• Much lower logistics costs

• Batches can be smaller

• Investment is affordable

• Product is the same quality as virgin steel for sections, rod and bar

• Now 30% (400 million tonnes / year) of steel production

• Changed by the small upstart company not the incumbents

• Overall system cost is lower

What Else Can we Change Like This?


Ashden Rwandan Prison Anaerobic Digestion Example

True Sustainable Intervention: Eliminate 2 problems, Create solutions and Educate people to use their skills to repeat the benefit

• Influx of people to a resource poor community,

• Burns all the fire wood, generates untreated sewage,

• Prisoners built anaerobic digestion plant in the gardens

– Exclude air from pit of sewage and natural bacteria produce methane

• No need to denude fire wood

• No sewage problem

• By-product is digestate for use a fertilizer

Source: Ashden Awards, AD Section


Resource Efficient Systems Integrate Technologies to Reduce Consumption

Community, Town, Factory,

Store,Home

ExcessHeat

IC ENGINE

FUEL CELL

GAS TOP UP

PYROLISE

GASIFY

DIGEST

FERTILIZER, COMPOST WASTE GLASS & METAL

COOLING

ELECTRICITY

HEAT

CLEAN

GAS

GRID TOP UP WIND TURBINE

EXTRA WASTESORT

Waste

VEHICLEFUEL


MAKING WASTE MANAGEMENT PART OF

OUR FUTURE


Big Challenges to Change

• To drive resource efficiency we must:– Look at engineering problems differently;

– Make sure policy makers, business leaders and engineers understand change is needed and is possible;

– Aspire to deliver the benefits;

– Work collaboratively across technical and social disciplinary boundaries;

– Create a favourable legislative and regulatory environment

– Take account of the value of finite resources in our economics;

– Make attractive, reliable and useable products and demonstrate there are benefits.

There is a Large Opportunity but We need to Change Our Behaviour


What Could We do?

To do this we need to:• Facilitate links between research, development and commercial interests to create

value through application development.• Create a range of supply partnerships that close resource loops.• Build supply chain networks that develop the UK industry base.• Utilise a range of funding sources.

Create a ‘Low Carbon Resource Efficient Community’ Based on an integrated set of projects

that Combine industrial, residential, agricultural and transport applications

to Exploit the inherent strengths of the Communities and Regions

AndDeliver Economic Well Being


An Case Study of an Innovation Challenge (Organics)

LightFossil Carbon

Fossil Fuel Gas Production Unit

Anaerobic Digestion Unit

Bio Processing

Power Generation

Land

Heat Production

Oils

Food

Pharmaceuticals

Neutraceuticals

Alkane, Alkene or Alkyne

Hydrogen

Extractio

nRapid Plant

Growth

Carbon Dioxide

Plant Matter

Depleted PlantMatter

Fertilizer

Hydrogen

Oxygen

Carbon Dioxide

And Nutrients

Food Waste

Sewage

Brewing ands Distillery Waste

Bio Diesel and Bio Ethanol Waste

Vehicles

Source: Entering the Ecological Age: The Engineer’s RoleCPI and Arup

Water

Methane

Conventional Bio mass


Conclusions

• Design things that use little energy and resource

• Make or build efficiently as possible, preferably with reuse in mind

• Think about resource flows before you design

• Think about resource flows through communities and systems

• Think how wastes can be eliminated or used as fuels or feedstocks

• Drive collaborative interdisciplinary working

• Take action

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, RELATE

WASTE AS A MAJOR RESOURCE


The Centre for Process Innovation

www.uk-cpi.com

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Documents

Copyright CPI 2010. All rights reserved 1 LOW CARBON ENERGY AND WASTE North East Recycling Forum Prof Graham Hillier, CEng, FIMMM, FRSA Director of Strategy