Gasrec announces launch of Albury liquid biomethane plant
26.06.08

Gasrec, the only commercial producers of LBM in Europe, is pleased to announce the official launch yesterday of the Gasrec LBM production facility at SITA UK’s Albury landfill site in Surrey, UK.

The Gasrec process cleans the landfill gas of all impurities before one constituent gas, methane, is separated and liquefied to create LBM, a valuable vehicle fuel. The facility can recover over 85% of the methane contained in the raw gas produced from the landfill site.

LBM not only offers a renewable alternative to fossil fuels, which generate harmful Green House Gases, but also burns more cleanly and quietly than diesel, with a 90% reduction in PM10 particulate, a 60% reduction in Nitrous Oxide, a 50% reduction in Sulphur Dioxide and a 30% reduction in noise. The use of LBM as a fuel substitute for fossil diesel or petrol results in carbon dioxide savings in the region of 70%, throughout the chain from extraction of the fossil fuel from the ground to its use in a vehicle. All vehicles that can operate on CNG (compressed natural gas) or LNG (liquefied natural gas) can run on LBM, however LBM offers a reduction in CO2 emissions which is twice that of natural gas (source:JEC2006 and CONCAWE studies).

The initial target for the use of LBM is commercial vehicles operating in the haulage and waste management sectors. Used widely, this fuel could make a valuable contribution towards the UK’s short term CO2 reduction targets and lead to an overall improvement in air quality.

Gasrec has signed an agreement with the Hardstaff Group, one of the largest LNG bulk transporters in the UK, to manage transport logistics and fuel transportation from Albury. The haulage trucks use Hardstaff’s dual fuel system (definition below), running entirely on LBM.

Richard Lilleystone, Chief Executive, Gasrec commented:
“We were pleased to be able to showcase our facility to our business partners and members of Surrey County Council yesterday. This plant, the first of its kind in the UK, is the validation of the Gasrec process, which will now be easy to replicate elsewhere. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the partners who have helped us reach this milestone on the way towards a more sustainable society.”

Stuart Hayward-Higham, New Markets Business Development Manager at SITA UK commented:
“We have produced electricity from landfill gas for many years but we believe there is a big future for generating fuel from waste. We have another waste-to-fuel project in Hong Kong and have been keen to see this type of technology take off in the UK. We are keen to expand our relationship with Gasrec to cover other types of waste recovery facilities.“

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Enquiries:

Gasrec +44 (0) 20 7436 6805
Richard Lilleystone, Chief Executive

M: Communications (PR for Gasrec) +44 (0) 207 153 1530
Charlotte Kirkham or Elly Williamson

Notes to Editors

Useful Statistics and Definitions

• LBM produced from landfill is the only commercially available B100 fuel that is waste derived, thereby making it the most sustainable. It also has the lowest carbon intensity of any B100 renewable fuel.
• LBM already meets the strictest criteria for sustainability and carbon intensity under the provisions of the UK RTFO.
• The Albury plant will produce c5,000 tonnes of LBM per annum, sufficient to fuel up to 150 HGVs or up to 500 LGVs, depending on their fuel source (i.e. dedicated gas or dual fuel), mileage, load and duty.
• It is estimated that substituting diesel with the LBM produced from Albury will reduce CO2 emissions by c15,000 tonnes per annum
• A dual-fuel engine allows the simultaneous combustion of two fuels, in the case of Hardstaff vehicles, natural gas and diesel fuel, which can be used on a 100% diesel fuel basis when required, or on the basis of a mixture of diesel fuel and natural gas, offering economic and environmental benefits.

About Gasrec

Gasrec is a producer of liquid methane fuel utilising gas generated by the decomposition of biomass. It obtains its gas supply from existing landfill sites or from controlled digestion of the biomass byproducts of food manufacture, retail and other industries. In creating and selling the fuel product, Gasrec recovers the latent energy stored in material discarded by society to power vehicles, especially those operating in the urban environment, or to generate electricity or CHP (Combined Heat and Power).

The generation of power from landfill sites in the UK is tried and tested, with over 300 UK landfill sites generating approximately 1,700 MW/h each year. However, a proportion of sites continue to flare unused gas as hitherto their development was not economically viable, thereby wasting the energy potential of the gas.

Gasrec has identified a clean, efficient use for this gas in the production of LBM (Liquid Bio Methane), a commercially competitive and environmentally sound fuel that can be directly substituted for both CNG (compressed natural gas) and LNG (liquefied natural gas) for use in gas-powered or dual-fuel vehicles, or to generate electricity or CHP (Combined Heat and Power).