UK-headed Drax Group, the world’s leading producer and user of sustainable biomass has revealed that it is to trial another pioneering new bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) process at its North Yorkshire power station.
Drax has partnered with the University of Nottingham and Promethean Particles to trial a new process that uses a type of solid sorbent to capture carbon dioxide (CO2).
Negative emissions technologies like BECCS will play a vital role in the fight against the climate crisis, so it’s crucial we continue to innovate and develop new technologies that will support their future deployment, said Jason Shipstone, Drax’s Chief Innovation Officer.
Promethean Particles are a global pioneer in the development and deployment of a solid sorbent known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).
MOFs have a simple structure, which means they can be tailored to separate and soak up specific molecules making them excellent for carbon capture and storage (CCS).
There is exciting potential for MOFs to deliver a more efficient CCS. By collaborating with Drax and the Uni, we can show how they can perform in a real industrial setting and drive a step-change in their availability and cost-effectiveness, said James Stephenson, CEO of Promethean Particles.
Two-month trial
The trial, dubbed Pilot-Scale Carbon Capture using Solid Sorbents (PICASSO), will last for two months and will allow all three organizations to understand if this new carbon capture process performs well in real conditions on large-scale projects.
This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase how these solid adsorbents perform in an industrial setting. We know that this project is gathering a lot of interest across many industrial sectors that currently generate large amounts of CO2, said Professor Ed Lester, Project Lead, University of Nottingham.
Developing BECCS
Drax Group, which has converted Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to use sustainable biomass instead of coal to become the UK’s largest renewable generator, plans to deploy the essential negative emissions technology BECCS in the 2020s.
To this end, the company has conducted trials with several both emerging and existing carbon capture technologies within its BECCS incubation hub.
If fully deployed it would be the world’s largest carbon capture power project, delivering a significant proportion of the negative emissions needed for the UK to meet its climate targets.
This partnership with the University of Nottingham and Promethean Particles is part of our long-term innovation program and will allow Drax to understand the future potential of this technology, as we continue to innovate and grow as a business, Jason Shipstone said.