At ESTECH we are at the forefront of technological development, not only within carbon capture, but also within the production of green hydrogen. We have developed and patented a Power-to-X technology that combines carbon capture and parallel production of hydrogen, solely based on green electrical power with no thermal heat requirement. The technology is unique in its approach to carbon capture merging two operations in one circular process that converts toxic flue gas or exhaust gas into storable and transportable forms of energy or fuels.
At our current stage of development the potential applications of our technology are almost limitless. However, our commercial focus at this point is a fully developed ESTECH plant aimed at small and medium-sized companies, which today have access to electricity but cannot immediately electrify their production. The plant can be installed at combined heat and power (CHP) plants and waterworks, as well as any industrial production facility that emits CO2.
In principle, the plant will enable anyone with a gas boiler of a certain size to optimise their use of traditional energy sources with exhaust gas purification and CO2 capture combined with hydrogen production. Today, such a cost-effective solution is not available to the public sector, despite the fact that they are major contributors to Denmark’s overall CO2 emissions.
We consider ESTECH’s carbon capture and power-to-x technology (CAPPOW) as a complementary technology to the traditional amine-based CO2 capturing technology, which can only be used at sites with access to thermal energy. Our technology is ideal for decentralised carbon capture on smaller industrial sites, not just large installations such as power plants. The ESTECH technology is suitable for small and medium-size CO2 emitters but can be upscaled for large CO2 emitters where thermal energy is limited.
Our technology is also part of the government’s upcoming climate strategy, which will focus on new technology within carbon capture and the production of green energy. The goal is for Europe to be climate neutral by 2050 and to reduce CO2 emissions by 55 percent by 2030.
Pyrolysis of sludge is an environmentally interesting area where dangerous, organic and chemical residues are captured, but where large amounts of CO2 are emitted in the process. VandCenter Syd (Danish waterwork) e.g. converts faecal sludge into biogas and sludge in general into agricultural fertiliser. When the sludge is purified via pyrolysis it becomes green manure. The purification, CO2 capture and simultaneous hydrogen production abilities of ESTECH’s technology is therefore an ideal solution to very specific challenges.
The pilot plant at VandCenter Syd has served as a test plant since 2021 in preparation for the coming larger demonstration plant. Tests carried out at our pilot plant show that a high percentage of the green energy used is utilised in hydrogen production, which means that it has the potential to become the most energy-efficient CCS technology on the market for small and medium-sized industries with no available thermal energy. December 2021, we received funding from the Danish Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP) for the development of a demonstration plant. During 2022, the near-industrial-size demonstration plant has been designed. The new plant will be demonstrating the scalability of the technology. Read our news releases to follow the further development.