- Article
As we navigate the shift towards sustainable fuels, economic and regulatory challenges have hindered the transition and slowed down efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Gasification offers a cost-effective solution to support the energy transition while transforming low-value feedstocks into high-value products.
In the evolving landscape of sustainable fuels, the pressing urgency to move away from fossil fuels is increasingly evident. While strides have been made in decarbonizing transportation, high-energy industries such as aviation, heavy transport, and maritime are slow to change, each facing unique challenges.
At the same time, recent trends indicate a slowdown or even decline in the push for decarbonization due to economic and regulatory challenges.
The escalating costs of mainstream solutions such as electrification have faced setbacks due to high costs, causing some projects to be canceled. Decarbonization efforts also face regulatory and logistical risks, such as permitting challenges for large renewable energy projects. Such factors have led to a disturbing trend of stagnation in the decarbonization progress, raising concerns about the industry's future.
Amidst this uncertain landscape, gasification emerges as a cost-effective interim solution, providing an alternative path to prevent stagnation in the energy transition, particularly for niche markets.
Understanding gasification
Gasification is the process of transforming solid feedstock such as wood, agricultural waste, or municipal solid waste, into a gas. Unlike combustion, gasification does not burn the material. Instead, it transforms it into a high-quality, nitrogen-free gas.
The resulting gas is cleaned and can then be refined or upgraded into a range of end products, including methane, methanol, jet fuel, or even materials used in plastics manufacturing.
The same gasification process can produce multiple products depending on end-use needs.
Due to the abundance of lignocellulosic feedstock globally, gasification is a highly scalable solution that enables the valorization of waste feedstocks.
Gasification offers economic feasibility and carbon-negativity
Amidst declining decarbonization efforts, gasification offers a cost-effective and sustainable solution for fuel production.
The technology enables waste-to-energy companies to transform low-value feedstocks into high-value products like sustainable jet fuel rather than simply burning them for energy.
Gasification also offers a way to cut down on the need for costly renewable energy infrastructure and carbon capture systems, bringing down the cost of decarbonization significantly. In contrast, power-to-X technologies that convert electricity into carbon-neutral fuels necessitate substantial renewable energy infrastructure, leading to challenges related to permitting and grid capacity.
What is more, gasification holds the potential for achieving carbon-negative outcomes, as it allows for the effective capture of residual CO2 emissions generated during the process. Other technologies might not deliver the same results, which is why a recent International Energy Agency (IEA) report highlights gasification as the most sustainable pathway to carbon negativity.
Sumitomo SHI FW (SFW) is a leader in gasification technologies
Sumitomo SHI FW (SFW) is a global leader in gasification technologies, with our expertise rooted in CFP technology that has served as our cornerstone for almost half a century.
We have validated our gasification technology through several demonstration plants, including the Varkaus demonstration plant in Finland, which we operated together with Neste and Stora Enso. These plants have successfully demonstrated the technical viability of producing liquid biofuels from biomass via gasification, with the Varkaus plant achieving a rare reliability rate of 91%.
With decades of experience and a proven track record of over 500 successful CFB installations, our versatile gasification technology excels at handling various feedstocks, from biomass to waste-derived materials.
Being part of Sumitomo Heavy Industries, a company with solid standing and credibility, provides a reliable and robust foundation to build a partnership on.