
Look at new incinerators is another of my New Year resolutions
With many people making New Year’s resolutions this month environment expert Ron Fox, of Noreus Ltd, gives another of his green suggestions to help the UK reduce its carbon footprint.
Look at incinerators: Ron said burning household rubbish in giant incinerators to make electricity is now the dirtiest way the UK generates power. He said nearly half of the rubbish produced in UK homes, including increasing amounts of plastic, is now being incinerated which is a disaster for the climate and the policy should be reviewed urgently.
Ron said nearly 15 years ago there was concern about the gases produced from throwing away household rubbish in landfill and their effect on climate change.
When the government put up the taxes for burying waste, UK councils turned to energy-from-waste plants – a type of incinerator that produces electricity from burning rubbish. In the past five years the number of incinerators has surged from 38 to 52.
Now about 3.1 per cent of the UK’s energy comes from waste incinerators. But plastic is made of fossil fuels and burning it, rather than burying it in landfill, produces high levels of greenhouse gases.
For the past three decades, the UK has been reducing its use of coal because of how polluting it is. In 2024 last coal plant was closed to help the country achieve its target of ensuring that generating electricity produces no carbon emissions by 2030.
But experts believe the problem of coal has been replaced partly by incinerators, which burn nearly half the UK’s household waste going to incinerators. They point out energy produced from waste is five times more polluting than the average UK unit of electricity generated as burning plastic produces 175 times more carbon dioxide (CO2) than burying it in landfill.
Despite this, said Ron, incinerators are still being built in England. The UK government approved a new £150m site in Dorset late last year, overturning the local council’s decision to block it.
In the past few years, Wales and Scotland have introduced bans on new incinerator plants over environmental concerns, but the same is yet to happen in England and Northern Ireland.
But Ron said there was one solution which could alleviate the problem. Enfinium, which generates electricity by burning unrecyclable refuse at two plants at Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire, is using carbon capture and storage technology, capturing a tonne of carbon dioxide a day. It is now hoping to introduce a £17 billion investment programme at all six of its sites to remove 1.2 million of carbon a year by the 2030s.
He concluded: “If the UK is serious about clean power by 2030 then we cannot keep just burning waste. I agree with the UK Climate Change Committee, which has recommended that no more plants be built unless there are plans for them to capture all their carbon emissions.”
For more advice on green energy and recycling contact Ron Fox, of Noreus Ltd which is based at Keele University’s Science and Innovation Park, on 0845 474 6641 or go to www.noreus.co.uk. In the meantime, have a happy and peaceful New Year.
Caption: Burning waste from household bins in incinerators can cause environmental problems.