By Jacob Stern, Vice President, RNG Product Delivery, Montrose
How will the energy transition shape the future of carbon circularity technologies?
While there is broad consensus on what constitutes renewable energy, evaluating and comparing these sources and proving their overall value in improving environmental conditions presents a complex challenge for governments and businesses alike. A more practical and actionable approach to addressing climate change initiatives will emerge by developing a composite framework for energy transition and carbon circularity.
Achieving an effective transition to large-scale use of these technologies will require a shift in perspectives, focusing on overcoming current roadblocks. For example, as novel hydrogen production methods promise lower costs, they will simultaneously introduce new challenges related to storage, transmission, utilization, and safety, further complicated by local, federal, and global policy landscapes. Given the long lifecycle of technology development, it’s essential to anticipate second and third-order challenges before wider anticipation.
Utilization of waste to produce renewable energy – is this waste treatment or energy creation?
The answer is both! Our most immediate challenge with waste is its sheer volume and variety. It is generated wherever industries, businesses, and people exist, making waste a globally distributed problem. Whether it’s treated wastewater or solid waste that is sorted, landfilled or recycled, the scale of this issue is staggering. Every year, 2 billion tons of municipal solid waste are generated, and 34 billion gallons of wastewater are treated daily in the U.S. alone. These figures are expected to rise by 70% by 2050 due to population growth.
By inventing, implementing, and continuously improving technologies that convert waste into energy, nutrients, or clean water, the environmental impact of waste can be mitigated. The result is cleaner air, water, and energy sources that offset fossil fuel consumption. Additionally, there is flexibility in what type of energy can be produced from waste, be it hydrogen, renewable natural gas, LNG, liquid fuels, or electricity. However, each waste-to-energy technology comes with its own techno-economic benefits and limitations. Carbon capture, utilization and sequestration can also enhance these technologies, aligning them with circularity goals.
How do we expand the application of waste-to-energy solutions?
At its core, the energy transition mirrors challenges faced during past technological revolutions. When considering the adoption of waste-to-energy technologies, it’s essential to consider key factors, document assumptions, and plan accordingly:
• Waste Source: Ensure contractual security and assess price, consistency, and quality.
• Technology: Evaluate the viability and scalability of the technology in relation to waste type, its mechanical and process limitations, and current technology readiness.
• Execution: Consider project processes, contract structures, risks, timelines, permitting, and operational requirements.
• Products: Assess the market value of the energy produced (e.g., through offtake agreements), cost offsets, and the potential for credit security (if applicable).
Europe has led the way in policy-driven initiatives around renewable natural gas from anaerobic digestion over the past 30 years, and now North America and other developed countries are increasingly adopting similar solutions.
We are on a quest!
Montrose Environmental Group is developing solutions that will help communities convert waste into valuable resources. We don’t want waste to be wasted. Our hope is to further energy access and community development in a more environmentally sustainable way.
Our biogas team is focused on anaerobic digestion systems that process various waste streams, including wastewater, manure, agricultural residues, and industrial food production waste, to produce renewable natural gas. Additionally, the team is exploring hydrothermal processing to generate hydrogen, LNG, and liquid fuels.
Originally published in IGNITE V9.
