Negative emission cogeneration technology

Ricardo has proven credentials in supporting governments and policy makers around the world tackle climate change and help meet their national net zero targets. Ricardo has supported clients worldwide in undertaking due diligence of technical, operational, and financial due diligence of carbon capture, utilisation and storage systems. We have also supported clients on technology evaluation and assessment. In 2020, we advised the UK Government on the potential of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) in the UK. We have also undertaken a study on the availability of CO₂ from direct air capture (DAC) - a key NET technology - at the EU level to meet ekerosene targets for the aviation industry. 

Following the Paris Agreement and subsequent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2018, CO₂ removal from the atmosphere, through negative emission technologies (NETs) or greenhouse gas removal (GGR) options, has become high on the agenda in order to help achieve net zero targets by 2050. The importance of NETs and CO₂ removals was highlighted at COP27 in Egypt which emphasised that nature-based greenhouse gas removals such as afforestation as well as engineered solutions including BECCS, biochar and DAC are essential if governments around the world are to meet their net zero targets. The deployment of such solutions will play key role in offsetting residual emissions from hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as aviation and construction.

Our latest study for the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) analysed the potential of BECCS in the UK to 2050. It highlighted: the key role that this technology can play as greenhouse gas removal solution; its role in creating jobs and added value to the UK; and that community scale decentralised BECCS systems can also play a role but with many technical and economic challenges to be overcome. 

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage

Supporting your organisation's adoption of negative emission cogeneration technology to meet your net zero targets and energy transition, find out more about our capability and proven track record in energy decarbonisation

Ricardo is renowned for its engineering solutions to address complex problems. Drawing on our broad expertise and knowledge in carbon capture systems and cogeneration technologies and applying engineering methods and tools developed from the automotive sector, we engineer an innovative and efficient system for capturing carbon from waste. Our expertise in bringing such technologies to market includes: mechanical and electrical design and development, analysis, control software development, systems integration, commissioning and testing.  

The combination of Ricardo’s CO₂ capture system with biomass pyrolysis technology from Woodtek offers negative emissions via two well-established GGRs, namely biochar and BECCS, and combined with cogeneration technology from Bluebox Energy provides an excellent opportunity for improved heat integration thus improving overall process efficiency. Heat from CO₂ capture can potentially be recovered, upgraded and combined with surplus heat from cogeneration and ultimately fed into district heating systems. This innovative community-scale GGR system is designed to provide CO₂ removals and to be sustainable in that it can be located near-by waste resources and where the CO₂ can be utilised in processes like concrete curing or mineral carbonation, where it can be permanently stored.

Ricardo has a long track record in supporting clients in the chemical, power generation and refinery sectors on the due diligence of new and innovative capture technologies including membranes, absorption, and adsorption systems. We also have well-established expertise in heating technologies including cogeneration. Using this expertise and knowledge and working with our partners, we developed an innovative system which maximises heat recovery and integration and improves efficiency. This innovation allowed the system to be designed and manufactured in such a way so that the underlying technology becomes affordable and deployable at this scale for the first time. 

Bluebox Energy

Ricardo has been collaborating with Bluebox Energy since June 2020 to deliver innovative technologies that support the transition to a low carbon future.

Since 2014, Bluebox has been developing ultra low carbon combined heat and power solutions for business parks, communities, industrial and farming processes. During that time Bluebox has developed a new method to convert the heat to electricity using its hot air turbine technology. Working with system integrators, Bluebox now has a number of facilities operating around the world.

The technology needs steam at 145ºC to drive the CO₂ capture process.  Of the technologies available, only hot air turbines discharge air at a high enough discharge temperature (~400 ºC) to generate steam.  Hot air turbines have a number of other advantages:

• No need for a condenser, with much reduced ancillary power requirements
• Non-hazardous fluid (air) is used
• Easy and fast to start and stop

Woodtek Engineering

Woodtek Engineering is a family-run renewable energy based company specialising in the design, development and manufacture of a range of renewable energy products.

With over 30 years’ experience in engineering and renewable technology, Woodtek Engineering specialises in innovation, equipment, and processes for continuous thermal treatment of many types of waste streams.  The company’s thermal process delivers further emission reduction solutions for operators and local communities as the technology provides heat and power, which can be utilised on site and/or be connected to local homes and businesses.  

Woodtek Engineering’s combustor technology allows close integration of the heat recovery elements that drive the hot air turbine. The company’s scrubber technology, which is integrated into the biochar production, reduces the need for scrubber adjustments and improving the quality of the biochar. 

Supporting the deployment of negative emission cogeneration technology on your site, find out more about our capability in infrastructure programme planning and strategy