Co-processing - Potential of Co-processing

Potential of Co-processing

The global industrial demand for energy is roughly 45% of the total demand and the requirements of the energy intensive industries (EII) are more than half of the total industrial demand, at 27%.

Worldwide, wastes suitable for Co-processing have an energy potential equivalent to nearly 20% of the fossil fuel energy used by the EII and coal-fired power plants. By 2030, the thermal substitution rate of waste could rise to nearly 30%. In the EU-25 countries of Europe, the available energy potential in waste currently represents nearly 40% of this demand, and this is expected to rise to almost 50% by 2030.

However, in the year 2004 in EU-25, less than 10% of the energy content of the waste that was not being reused or recycled was utilized by the EII and power plants. This figure indicates to which extend the high potential of waste as alternative fuel and a source of materials is being neglected.

Roughly 60% of the waste that could be used for Co-processing is biomass and therefore carbon neutral. In this way Co-processing offers a significant potential for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. Furthermore, diverting industrial waste streams from landfills and incinerators without energy recovery contributes to reducing overall CO₂ emissions when used to substitute fossil fuels through Co-processing (as illustrated in the figure below).

Figure 3: Reduction of Emissions through Co-processing

Other factors that must be considered when Co-processing waste include product quality standards, permitting aspects, and transparent communication in order to gain public acceptance.