Title: Fuelling ultra light rail public transport from a Gloucestershire organic waste treatment plant: a feasibility analysis

Authors: Richard Davidson; Frank M. Chambers; Willy Ford

Addresses: Centre for Environmental Change and Quaternary Research, School of Natural & Social Sciences, University of Gloucestershire, Francis Close Hall, Swindon Rd, Cheltenham, GL50 4AZ, UK; Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce, 2 Trafalgar Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1UH, UK ' Centre for Environmental Change and Quaternary Research, School of Natural & Social Sciences, University of Gloucestershire, Francis Close Hall, Swindon Rd, Cheltenham, GL50 4AZ, UK; Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce, 2 Trafalgar Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1UH, UK ' Centre for Environmental Change and Quaternary Research, School of Natural & Social Sciences, University of Gloucestershire, Francis Close Hall, Swindon Rd, Cheltenham, GL50 4AZ, UK; Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce, 2 Trafalgar Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1UH, UK

Abstract: Many medium-sized towns and cities face separate problems of traffic congestion and increasing pressure to reduce waste sent to landfill. The intent of the study was to determine whether the utilisation of biohydrogen from organic waste, as a transport fuel, can provide a holistic solution for municipalities to meet renewable energy and waste reduction targets in medium-sized towns. The study assesses the feasibility of producing a sufficient quantity and quality of biohydrogen from the organic fraction of Gloucestershire's municipal solid waste (MSW) to supply a hydrogen fuel to operate a fuel-cell powered ultra light rail (ULR) system in Cheltenham and its surrounds. The paper assesses the selected waste to fuel (WtF) technologies for producing biohydrogen against a number of defined criteria. Based on the results of the technology evaluations, it was observed that anaerobic digestion (AD) combined with steam methane reforming (SMR) would be the most suitable technology option for the Gloucestershire ULR system's needs. The results demonstrate that all of the technologies evaluated could produce the quantities of hydrogen needed; however, the Kompogas AD process coupled with SMR was shown to offer further potential in terms of its profitability and the flexibility needed to ensure the project's viability.

Keywords: fuel cells; organic waste; MSW organic fraction; municipal solid waste; OFMSW; biohydrogen; ultra light rail transport; ULR; waste to fuel; WtF; UK; United Kingdom; public transport; waste treatment; renewable energy; waste reduction; hydrogen fuel; environmental technology; anaerobic digestion; steam methane reforming; SMR.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2014.064586

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2014 Vol.14 No.3, pp.290 - 310

Accepted: 09 Jan 2014
Published online: 06 Sep 2014 *

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