CEM - Abstract

Abstract Information :

The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a big concern and therefore strong in discussion in public, governments and industries. In Europe the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is a carbon market based on a system of cap-and-trade of emission allowances for energy-intensive industries and the power generation sector. It is the EU's main tool in addressing emissions reductions, covering about 40% of the EU's total CO2 emissions increasing to 62 % until 2030 in comparison to the year 2005. The Commission will assess and report by 31 July 2026 on the possibility of including the municipal waste incineration sector in the ETS with a view to including it from 2028. For the correct calculation of the countable CO2 emissions, it is important to determine the biogenic and fossil fraction of it. The biogenic fraction is defined as GHG neutral. Beside the EU goals and regulations there exist also national regulations in different countries. In Germany was published on 9.11.2022 the second revision of the Fuel Emissions Trading Act (Brennstoffemissionshandelsgesetz BEHG) which will implement Waste Incinerators into the trading starting on 1.1.2024. Biogenic CO2 emissions will have the emission factor of zero. The different ways, how the CO2 emissions and the biogenic fraction can be determined is regulated in the Emission Reporting Ordinance 2030 (Emissionsberichterstattungsverordnung - EBeV 2030) which was published on 30.12.2022. In Italy was published UNI1607324. This technical specification provides the principles and requirements for the determination of the fraction of renewable energy produced by co-firing, incineration and co-incineration plants fuelled with hybrid fuels by measuring the 14C at the chimney. It is applicable to the determination of the renewable energy produced in gasification and pyrolysis plants; and also applicable to the assessment of CO2 emissions for the purposes of the legislation on "emissions trading". Due to these regulations’ producers and operators of waste incineration plants are interested in reliable and cost-effective methods for the determination of the biogenic and fossil CO2 emissions. There exist common methods for the determination of the biogenic emissions or the content of the fuel. There could be worked with emission factors, calculations, but also with CO2 emission measurements combined with continuous sampling of a part of the flue gas on a CO2 adsorber material followed by an analysis according to the 14C method. Functional Principle Mixed fuel as used in e.g. RDF or MWI plants consists of a mixture of biogenic (wood, food, plants,..) and fossil (coal, oil, plastics,…) carbon. These different materials can be identified by a marker of the carbon atoms, as fossil material consists of 12C and biogenic material of 14C. When the fuel is burned the different carbon is emitted with the CO2 to the atmosphere. Biogenic CO2 is thereby defined as CO2 neutral, as the CO2 which is released due to the burning process, was absorbed by the material only a short time before. Only the fossil CO2 part of the emission is defined as GHG source. By a determination of the 14C fraction of the flue gas it is possible to determine the biogenic part of the fuel. For the determination of the biogenic fraction, the AMESA B system extracts a part of the flue gas under volume-proportional conditions and the CO2 is sampled in an adsorber cartridge. After the sampling period of several hours up to one month, the cartridge is sent to a carbon dating laboratory to apply the carbon-14 method and determine the proportion of the 14C and 12C isotopes in the CO2. With the analysis result and the information of the 14C fraction, it is possible to calculate the emitted fraction of biogenic and fossil CO2 or the amount of the biogenic fuel or the portion of the green energy. The used principle is a standardized method and complies EN ISO 13833 and EN 15440. This paper will describe in detail the AMESA B system and will present results of applications in Waste to Energy Plants and Refused Derived Fuel Plants in different countries as e.g. France, Germany, Italy and UK.