Beeah Energy and Chinook Sciences have signed an agreement to begin development of the Middle East’s first waste-to-hydrogen plant. The facility will produce low-cost, green hydrogen, as well as high-quality activated carbon.
Building on its commitment for zero-waste cities and clean energy solutions, the project further demonstrates how Beeah can address the twin challenge of unrecyclable waste, and contributing to green mobility simultaneously, said a statement from Beeah.
Non-recyclable waste wood and plastic will be processed using Chinook RODECS gasification and pyrolysis technology, which will produce up to 18,000kg of green hydrogen a day at full operational capacity, the statement explained.
The signing ceremony took place at the UK Pavilion at EXPO 2020 Dubai, in the presence of Simon Penney, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for the Middle East and Her Majesty’s Consul General for Dubai, as well as other dignitaries from the UK and UAE.
Khaled Al Huraimel, group CEO of Beeah stated, “As a sustainability leader in the Middle East, we are excited to be creating the first waste-to-hydrogen solution in the region and support the UAE government in its hydrogen economy ambitions, energy diversification and decarbonisation efforts. Beeah has always recognised the value of energy recovery from waste, and this new project will not only showcase the potential of waste-to-hydrogen but it will also support a circular economy across multiple fronts throughout the region.”
Production of green hydrogen will be significantly cheaper than that of fossil fuels. The plant will host a hydrogen fueling station, equipped to provide enough fuel cell grade hydrogen for several large trucks and buses every day, the statement added.
Dr Rifat Chalabi, chairman and co-founder of Chinook Sciences Group noted, “We are excited to work with Beeah Energy and use our patented RODECS gasification and pyrolysis technology in the UAE to produce fuel-cell grade hydrogen for their fleet. The technology breaks down hydrocarbons from waste through advanced thermal treatment to release and recover green hydrogen. Then, when the green hydrogen is used in vehicles, it emits only water as a by-product.”
The plant’s unique operational concept allows it to run profitably even during a time that the hydrogen market is still developing. This will be achieved in the early months of operation by relying entirely on the production of the plant’s secondary revenue stream of activated carbon. The high-grade activated carbon produced will be used for environmental purposes as a high-grade filtration media to clean water resources and air, filtering harmful pollutants, including pathogens and viruses, the statement explained.
As the hydrogen market starts to grow the plant will gradually switch more of its operational hours away from activated carbon and toward green hydrogen production to meet hydrogen requirements, the statement concluded.
