Wealth from Waste: Waste Biomass Valorization Opportunities in India. Dr Christopher Tuck

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1 Wealth from Waste: Waste Biomass Valorization Opportunities in India Dr Christopher Tuck

2 Nottingham University

3 Carbon Neutral Laboratory

4 Centre for Sustainable Chemistry

5 Background PhD Title Selective Oxidation of Lignin in High Temperature Water Prof. Martyn Poliakoff s research group Business Science Fellow (Green Chemistry) working in the Business Partnership Unit of Chemistry in collaboration with Sustein Ltd

7 Background PhD Title Selective Oxidation of Lignin in High Temperature Water Prof. Martyn Poliakoff s research group Oxidation of lignin in supercritical water Business Science Fellow (Green Chemistry) working in the Business Partnership Unit of Chemistry in collaboration with Sustein Ltd

8 Waste Biomass/Biomass byproducts Cheaper than energy crops Large scale Production does not require additional land/fertilisers/fossil fuels Avoids food vs fuel conflicts

9 Waste Biomass Agricultural field residues Agricultural process residues Municipal solid waste

10 Waste Biomass Agricultural residual biomass has existing uses These include: Fodder Energy Soil quality

11 Nearly all waste has some value Potential for increasing this value by targeting more profitable conversion routes There are still large scale waste products which add no value or even incur some sort of cost

12 Nearly all waste has some value Potential for increasing this value by targeting more profitable conversion routes There are still large scale waste products which add no value or even incur some sort of cost

13 Waste Valorization Routes Average bulk chemical 1000 Transport Fuel Cattle feed Generating Electricity Value $/tonne biomass Landfill Negative value of ~ $400 tonne Tuck, C. O., Perez, E., Horváth, I.T., Sheldon, R. A., Poliakoff, M. (2012) Valorization of biomass: deriving more value from waste Science, 337, 695.

14 Waste Biomass Agricultural field residues Agricultural process residues Municipal solid waste

15 Field Residues Rice wheat system (RWS) Rice grown from June to October Wheat from November to March Crop residues are disposed of before new crop is planted

16 Field Residues Poor degradability Low fodder value Increased use of combine harvesters Lack of feasible disposability options Prabhat K. Gupta (2004) Residue burning in rice wheat cropping system: Causes and implications

18 Crop Residues 45, 60, 63 Mtonnes estimated to have been burnt in 1994, 2005, 2010 CO 2 emissions, smog, atmospheric pollution, respiratory problems Provide incentives for collection of residues Baling, collecting, and 5 km transport = 650 Rs/tonne of straw

19 Crop Residues A cheap source of biomass for conversion to fuels or chemicals

20 However Questions over sustainability removal/burning of residues reduces soil quality Agricultural residues are seasonal A steady stream of waste is preferable

21 Municipal Solid Waste in India tonnes/day in 2011 By tonnes/day Sustainable Solid Waste Management in India Ranjith Annepu (2012) A Global Review of Solid Waste Management World Bank (2012)

22 32% 18% 50% Organics Inert Recycleables

23 Potential resource of up to 31 million tonnes per year Steady stream Majority of MSW is sent to dumping grounds

24 Year Area of Land Occupied / Required for MSW Disposal (sq.km) City Equivalents % of Mumbai % of Chennai * 590 Hyderabad * 1400 Hyderabad + Mumbai + Chennai *Based on a business as usual scenario

25 Landfill fires emit 20,000 tonnes of pollutants a year in Mumbai alone Emissions included furans, dioxins, NO x, and Carbon monoxide Decomposing organic matter also emits methane, which has over 20 times more potent global warming potential than CO 2

26 Organic matter leads to pests and insects Vectors for diseases including Dengue fever, Cholera, and Bubonic plague

27 Solutions? Burn MSW for power? India has begun to invest in waste to energy plants

28 Waste to Energy: Advantages Recovers energy from the biomass fraction of the waste Greatly reduces the volume of material that must be landfilled

29 Waste to Energy: Disadvantages MSW has a high moisture content due to high organic % High proportion of paper, plastics and cardboard must also be incinerated Waste pickers lose their livelihood Value is lost from recycleables Opposition from local residents due to fears over emissions

30 Organic fraction should be the target! Separation at source is the best solution Lack of compliance Space is an issue multiple bins More refuse collections Technical solutions?

31 Waste autoclave technology Pre-treatment step Separates the MSW into an organic fraction, and both cleans and sterilises the recycleables Already being used to treat hazardous/medical waste in India

32 Waste autoclave technology Wilson Steam System Greater than 10 years optimisation Most efficient autoclave process identified by Sustein Process guarantee backed by QBE insurance Australia

35 Pressure = 5 bar Temperature =160 C

36 Mechanical + heat treatment

39 Plant is can meet it s own energy requirements with 1/4 of the organic fibre

41 Wilson Steam Advantages Clean and sterile stream of recycleables Organic fibre Odour is greatly reduced Modular approach, each 2 autoclave module can process tonnes p/a

42 Organic fibre

43 Thanks for listening! Waste is a resource in the wrong place! Mahatma Gandhi Acknowledgements: Martyn Poliakoff Sustein Wilson Steam Gerald Busca

AeroThermal s Solution: distributed all around the wor ld in cooperation with VULCANES Ltd - FISSORE Agency Monte-Carlo

AeroThermal s Solution: distributed all around the wor ld in cooperation with VULCANES Ltd - FISSORE Agency Monte-Carlo AeroThermal s autoclave is a pressure vessel that steam treats its contents at a