Encyclis pilots UK’s first energy-from-waste plant to use 100% renewable HVO
UK-based energy-from-waste (EfW) provider Encyclis has completed a 12-month pilot program aimed at replacing diesel with hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) in its energy-from-waste processes, the company said.
The initiative is a first for the UK industry, marking a step toward reducing fossil carbon emissions in waste-to-energy operations.
The pilot was conducted at the company’s Newhurst Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Leicestershire, where HVO - produced from 100% renewable and sustainable waste materials - was used during a planned maintenance outage to power auxiliary burners, plant vehicles and the facility’s emergency generator.
The switch to HVO eliminated fossil CO2 emissions from these systems, the company said in a statement this week.
Owen Michaelson, chief executive officer of Encyclis, emphasized the importance of taking steps in tackling the climate challenge.
“The climate challenge demands action, not words, and that’s at the heart of our strategy,” Michaelson said. “We are working to provide a public sanitation solution that not only recovers energy and other resources from residual waste but actively cuts carbon emissions through initiatives like this, and our carbon capture programme.”
Step toward full implementation
Encyclis plans to expand the use of HVO across its fleet of energy recovery facilities once longer-term performance testing is complete, it said.
The EfW process depends on auxiliary burners, typically fueled by diesel or natural gas, to heat combustion chambers during maintenance-related start-up and shutdown phases.
By transitioning to HVO, the company can reduce a key source of fossil-based CO2 emissions.
“This trial programme replaced diesel, which is a fossil fuel, with HVO, which is 100% biogenic,” Encyclis told Fastmarkets on Thursday.
“Startup fuel usage accounts for around 1% of our scope 1 emissions. Switching from diesel to HVO eliminates that proportion of our fossil-based CO2 emissions.”
Collaboration and testing
The switch to HVO required extensive research and testing, which Encyclis conducted in collaboration with Saacke, a German manufacturer of burners.
The testing phase took place at Saacke’s R&D facility in Bremen, where various operational scenarios were simulated to determine the specific combustion properties of HVO and identify the necessary technical modifications.
After testing, Encyclis conducted operational trials at the Newhurst facility, supported by an initial delivery of 40,000 liters of HVO.
Encyclis also addressed concerns about the supply chain for HVO. It noted that, although current volumes are relatively small, production of HVO is increasing rapidly.
“We are currently sourcing relatively small volumes of HVO for this initiative, which is appropriate to the project, but we understand that production of HVO is increasing rapidly,” the company told Fastmarkets.
The UK’s provisional biofuel data published in August for the calendar year to July 2024 showed a significant drop in HVO activity from the same period in 2023. The data showed that only 25 million liters of HVO were certified, down from 102 million liters in the previous year.
A notable change was the complete absence of HVO shipments from the US, which was a key supplier in 2023. China's contribution to the UK's HVO supply also fell, contributing to the overall reduction in volumes.
Of the remaining HVO supply, just 5 million liters were produced from palm oil, a steep drop from the 81 million liters of palm-based products reported in 2023.
Growing regulatory pressure globally, including stricter emissions standards rules from bodies such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the European Union, will boost demand for sustainable fuel alternatives, market observers have said.