Public Funding for Carbogenics Ltd

At present, there is no environmentally sound upcycling solution to screening waste. 'Screening Waste' is generated from wastewater treatment (WWT) facilities and is removed from the influent during WWT; it is stored in skips and sent to landfill. This source of waste is increasing annually and causes significant challenges to the infrastructure and financial cost of WWT. Landfills contribute to soil and water pollution, releasing greenhouse gases and posing a threat to ecosystems and human health through the accumulation of hazardous waste. Screening waste 'fibre' is not recycled due to quality and hygiene concerns in the paper industry. However, in our preliminary results, we have explored that using it to create a new carbon-based biochar is promising. Carbogenics is a member of the Scottish Bio-technology cluster and we will upcycle this under-utilised biomass supply which is a win for communities and the WWT industry. FilaChar is a patent-pending carbon-rich material called biochar made from organic wastes that can act as a carbon sink by sequestering three tonnes of carbon dioxide for every tonne of biochar. It aims to address issues in WWT such as Odour emissions, high energy demand for inefficient aeration of the biological treatment step, fluctuating pollutant removal performance, especially during peak loads and high costs for the disposal of screening waste and these issues increase the WWT operating costs by more than 5%. Our initial research shows that FilaChar was able to remove pollutants and odours from wastewater, improve sewage sludge settling, and enhance the activated sludge process. FilaChar production has a net negative carbon impact and can significantly reduce carbon emissions. This project seeks to build upon this prior industrial biotech research and evaluate FilaChar's practical applications and effectiveness in improving WWT processes. We are partnering with Scottish Water to access relevant biomass supply and their Bo'ness testing facility to progress this work. The project will conduct a comprehensive assessment of how to process the screening waste and transform it into FilaChar at scale and evaluate its commercial viability. Subsequently, we will conduct a trial which will investigate FilaChar's efficiency in removing contaminants, leaching behaviour, and its impact on the wastewater treatment process. Our efforts will focus on working with relevant authorities to address legislative issues and gather data to substantiate our claims. We aim to establish a regulatory pathway for FilaChar. Furthermore, we will conduct thorough desk-based research to identify potential future markets for FilaChar.

This project aims to assess the effectiveness of biochar derived from digestate feedstock, EcoChar (Emission Control Organic-Char) - in reducing harmful gases emitted by a digestate lagoon. This EcoChar project involves characterising digestate and EcoChar, conducting small-scale testing, and analysing the EcoChar for additional benefits such as nutrient uptake. This project will validate the potential for EcoChar to be used as a low-cost, efficient, and eco-friendly alternative to traditional Anaerobic Digestion (AD) lagoon cover materials. The Clean Air Strategy will mandate emission abatement for open slurry and digestate stores (lagoons), where they are currently not required to be covered. Significant amounts of ammonia are lost to the atmosphere from open stores, tanks and lagoons that are currently open to the elements. It is expected that any newly constructed store will need a fixed/rigid cover. However, existing infrastructure will be able to use a wider range of options, including straws/organic layers or lightweight aggregate materials. Typical non-rigid lagoon cover has limitations and is impermeable to gases and liquids. A lagoon cover helps contain harmful gases, controls odour and biogas capture. Fixed covers will be cost-prohibitive in many situations, and it is therefore vital that other methods can be used to bring existing stores into compliance. Biochar as a cover can also be utilised as a potential fertiliser and soil conditioner once its role as an emission suppressant concludes. Moreover, biochar is recognised as an effective carbon sequestration method when applied to soil. AD lagoons use open-air basins/ponds for the storage of digestate after the AD process. AD systems typically involve enclosed reactors to treat various types of organic waste such as agricultural waste, wastewater and food processing residues. It undergoes microbial breakdown anaerobically facilitating the production of biogas, primarily methane, which can be utilised as a renewable energy source. However it also emits harmful gasses such as ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, methane, and carbon dioxide due to the decomposition of organic matter. These gases pose environmental and health risks, contributing to air pollution. The EcoChar project will also look at AD digestate as a potential feedstock for preparing biochar. Digestate is composed of partially degraded organic matter making it rich in nutrients and a suitable feedstock. Processing digestate into biochar through a thermochemical process, pyrolysis, facilitates better management of the digestate disposal thus reducing waste and will improve the circularity of the overall process.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a complex biotechnological process used to convert organic waste, such as food waste, unusable parts of plant crops and other farm-generated wastes as well as municipal wastewater into valuable biogas. Biogas is a renewable fuel with the potential to replace the natural gas necessary to heat our homes and power our industry. However, as any biological process AD is difficult to manage. Changes in feedstock type and quality present risks and can lead to complete process failure, which causes substantial losses in revenue and energy production, Most of the AD plants in the UK are currently working at maximum 65% digestion efficiency. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it became evident how important the AD industry is for managing organic waste disposal, but it also highlighted its limitations. Rapid changes in feedstocks during the crisis caused problems in AD plants, which resulted in high volumes of organic waste being sent to landfill or for incineration. Carbogenics' flagship product CreChar absorbs harmful chemicals and enhances the adaptive capability of the microorganisms that reside in biogas reactors, thereby stabilising the AD process and increasing biogas production by 15%. We produce CreChar sustainably from difficult-to recycle paper- based waste such as food- contaminated cardboard boxes or waste paper cups. Our innovative product will enable the AD industry to deal with abrupt feedstock regime changes much better. CreChar will make the AD sector more resilient and allow it to effectively respond to waste management emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, while also generating additional revenue of £200k/annum (for an average 1MGW plant). After its use in AD, our product can be safely deposited in soils, realising significant carbon savings. Our Innovate UK project will initially focus on lab-based customisation of our CreChar product, followed by demonstration of its capability with an industrial partner in a full-scale trial. The project will accelerate CreChar's commercialisation, bringing our innovation to the market as early as 2021\. Our circular economy business will contribute to the decarbonisation of the economy, thereby helping to reach the UK's net zero CO2 emissions and zero waste targets by 2050\.