EU Energy From Waste – April 2022
The EU Energy from Waste dashboard has been updated, reflecting the latest available information on the 525 operational Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities across Europe (including UK). ‘Waste’ in this context refers to Municipal Solid Waste or RDF, but not biomass, tyre-derived fuels, meat & bonemeal etc. The total capacity of sites amounts to 125 million tonnes, though there are numerous additional sites under development or moving through the planning process, especially in the UK.
Information on the portfolio of facilities is presented in the interactive European EfW Dashboard from Footprint Services. A free sample version is available here, filtered for Italy.
The war in Ukraine has focused minds and sharpened the resolve of policymakers to reduce dependency on imported gas from Russia, which, in turn, has accelerated the push towards renewable and alternative energy. Wind, solar and nuclear are likely to benefit, but there is hope that EfW will have an easier future than it has experienced in recent years, having faced public resistance, political inertia and additional taxes, on top of the wider difficulties caused by Covid. Indeed, there is evidence that this is beginning to happen, with Nottinghamshire’s backing for the Uniper EfW plans. During the planning decision meeting earlier this year, Conservative councillor Cllr Camilleri reportedly expressed frustration with the arguments typically made against recovering the energy from non-recyclable residual waste in the UK. The quote attributed to him is worth reading:
“I want some real proof that incineration doesn’t work. If it works in Sweden, why it not going to work in the UK? Are we different? Is our air different? Is our rubbish different? I would like some proper arguments on why we can’t do it because we’ve got to do something. We can’t continue relying on Russia, or fuel from abroad. We can’t keep closing power stations, and we can’t rely on wind. We have got to do something and I think that along with recycling properly, this is the way forward.” (see article here)
As well as including information in table form on tonnage capacity and headline power output of each site, the EU EfW Dashboard now also presents a picture for almost three quarters of the sites. What is most striking is the sheer variety of architectural designs; incinerators certainly do not have to be a dull rectangular box with a chimney. The sites below are in France and Norway respectively; neither facility is brand new, but they demonstrate that there is no reason why waste to energy sites should lack aesthetic appeal or creative styling.
For more information on the EU Energy from Waste dashboard, please get in touch with andrew@footprintservices.co