Waste to energy system introduced by Cleanergy

June 27, 2014 0 By Alicia Moore

Waste to energy

The first system designed for generating energy from old and closed landfills is launched.

GasBox is a new waste to energy (W2E) system from Swedish based company Cleanergy, which transforms methane gas that is being emitted from old landfills across Europe into electricity and heat.

GasBox benefits more than 1,900 landfill sites throughout Europe that are over 10 years old.

At present, the methane gas at old and closed sites is typically burned to stop the gas from reaching the atmosphere. This results in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Even though this is still not environmentally friendly, it is better than allowing the methane to enter the atmosphere as it warms it 20 to 30 times more than CO2.

Another problem with older landfills is that their grade of methane is lower or “dirty”, and the gas combustion engines that are utilized at newer landfill sites where methane levels are typically higher than 40 percent, cannot generate electricity from this old methane.

Cleanergy’s GasBox is an answer to this particular issue. As it stands now, there is no other W2E system equipped with the technology that the GasBox has, which enables it to generate both heat and electricity from a concentration of methane gas that is as low as 18 percent. The biogas is the product of manure, plant residues, and food waste at landfill sites, farms and waste water plants.

The GasBox is a flexible and autonomous “stirling engine unit” and it is installed within a modular container. There is also a real time power management system in the container that can be accessed remotely, as well as a fuel pipe and an electricity and heat connection to a wearhouse/factory/house with grid functionality that is optional.

The waste to energy GasBox is already being utilized to power equipment and buildings.

Cleanergy’s GasBox is currently in operation at a variety of locations in Sweden and in Norway at the Yggeset waste disposal park. The energy that is produced from the system is providing energy to equipment and is also being used to heat and power buildings.

“Our landfill is 32 years old and now producing low-grade methane. Cleanergy’s GasBox was quick and painless to install. It generates enough electricity to heat and power our needs,” said the Yggeset recycling park manager in Asker, Norway, Thorleif Eriksen. He added that they recommend the waste to energy GasBox system “to industry colleagues worldwide.”

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