World’s first shot at canning CO2 from trash

Oslo’s main waste incinerator on Monday began the world’s first experiment to capture carbon dioxide from the fumes of burning rubbish. Carbon dioxide is the main gas blamed for extreme weather conditions such as rising temperature, drought and floods.

The test at the Klemetsrud incinerator, which burns household and industrial waste, is a step beyond most efforts to capture and bury greenhouse gases at coal-fired power plants or factories using fossil fuels. “I hope Oslo can show other cities that it’s possible” to capture emissions from trash, Oslo Mayor Marianne Borgen said at an opening ceremony at the Klemetsrud waste-to-energy incinerator which generates heat to warm buildings in the city. 

Carbon capture and storage is an expensive technology. The test plant, in five containers feeding exhaust gases through a series of pipes and filters, will capture carbon dioxide at a rate equivalent to 2,000 tonnes a year until the end of April. 

And if it works, a full-scale carbon capture plant could be built by 2020, officials said. Carbon dioxide could then be shipped to the North Sea and injected into oil and gas fields to help boost pressure and raise production. 

“We see potential in this market across the world,” said Valborg Lundegaard, head of Aker Solutions’ engineering business which runs the test. She said it was the first of its kind world wide for a waste-toenergy plant. Officials declined to discuss this project cost. 

About 60 percent of the rubbish burnt at Klemetsrud is of biological origin - from waste wood to food.