Wales-based Compact Syngas Solutions (CSS), a company specialising in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, has announced the receipt of £4 million in funding from the UK government. The allocated funds will be utilised to propel the development of a new CCS technology capable of capturing CO2 emissions from the production of clean fuels.
Contribution to Net Zero emissions
The funding secured by CSS is part of the UK government’s Net Zero Technology Innovation (NTTI) competition, which aims to foster the growth of innovative technologies facilitating the country’s target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. CSS has been awarded £3,979,113 from the Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (H2BECCS) Innovation Programme, administered by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). The company had previously received an initial round of funding amounting to £246,568.
Clean fuel production
The British company’s CSS’s technology centers around membrane separation, a process that employs specialised membranes to isolate CO2 from other gases. By utilising tailor-made membranes designed to capture CO2 during clean fuel production, CSS effectively reduces the carbon footprint associated with hydrogen production while enhancing process efficiency. The extracted CO2 is subsequently stored underground. To demonstrate the viability of water-based CO2 separation and storage, CSS will employ the newly acquired funding to construct a full-scale apparatus. This innovative approach replaces the use of potentially hazardous chemicals such as amines, further optimizing safety and environmental impact.
Further, their project entails continuous operation of the rig for 1,000 hours to verify the reliability of the technology and pave the way for future commercialisation. Throughout this duration, the rig will generate 750kg of hydrogen daily, sufficient to power a fleet of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), while capturing approximately 1,600kg of CO2. In line with local demand, CSS plans to establish over 50 hydrogen modules across 15 sites, ranging from single-module installations to those comprising six modules. This comprehensive network is projected to produce 11,000 tonnes of hydrogen annually, capturing 29,000 tonnes of CO2 in the process.
Paul Willacy, managing director of Compact Syngas Solutions, said: “Winning a second round of funding is an incredible achievement for the team, as we were up against some stiff competition.
“We are delighted that we can now scale up technology into a commercial-scale demo plant, and we are actively looking for further investment to support rollout in the next couple of years.
“Capturing and storing the carbon from our gasification process and the hydrogen we produce will support the drive to Net Zero and lower the environmental impact of producing this green fuel at scale.
“Hydrogen has a very low environmental impact, but this project will help deal efficiently with the CO2 that emerges during its production.”
