In an agreement signed at COP26, Linde agreed to work with London-listed Powerhouse Energy and its EU partner Hydrogen Utopia (HUI) to use its technology that converts plastic to hydrogen. Linde will provide exclusive hydrogen processing services produced at HUI’s facilities across Europe for the next five years. A number of factories are already planned and the first is about to open in the Polish city of Konin towards the end of next year with Bulgaria and Greece to follow. Sites are also planned in the UK with the first to open in the Northwest in two years with one in Scotland to follow. In total, the plans are expected to create at least 500 jobs in 50 facilities.
Powerhouse Gains Pyrolysis Contract
Powerhouse Energy Group chairman James Greenstreet said he was “happy” with the deal, adding: “We look forward to HUI and Linde’s collaboration using Powerhouse technology to accelerate Poland’s transition to clean energy.”
“HUI is fighting for our technology across Europe and potentially the world – and helping to provide a global solution for plastic waste.”
Harald Ranke, CEO of Selas-Linde, said: “Producing hydrogen from plastic waste will help solve an environmental problem and at the same time promote decentralised hydrogen utilisation.”
The technology developed by Powerhouse Energy works by heating plastic to very high temperatures to create synthetic gas, or syngas, which can then be further processed to create electricity and hydrogen.
Tyre & Rubber Recycling visited Powerhouse’s DMG pilot plant in Cheshire several years ago and at the time there was talk of creating hydrogen by pyrolysing tyres or plastics at 1000 degrees.
That pilot plant has been scaled up and proven and the result is that forward looking operators are seeing the potential as the market for hydrogen opens up. Of course, pyrolysing polymer waste gives the project an important twin advantage in that it starts to address the enormous issue of plastic waste that will be with us for decades to come.
Source: KNEWS
