Waste to energy demonstration plant completed

Compact Syngas Solutions (CSS) says that it has completed work on a government funded demonstration project which aims to be “the next generation of waste-to-energy plants”. The new £4 million ($5.4 million) MicroHub plant, developed as part of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Programme, produces hydrogen and electricity from biogenic waste while capturing carbon emissions using water scrubbing. Unlike traditional methods that use chemical solvents like amines, CSS’s system uses water to remove carbon dioxide from syngas, which the company says is a safer and more sustainable solution.

During trial runs, the plant captured over 90% of CO₂ from the syngas, exceeding the 75% target. Across more than 1,000 operating hours – including multiple 100-hour continuous runs – the system demonstrated stable, scalable performance. CSS’s process turns non-recyclable waste and refuse-derived fuel into hydrogen-rich syngas. After cooling, filtering, and scrubbing, the syngas is processed into clean hydrogen — with carbon captured in both solid biochar and gaseous form. A carbon lifecycle analysis confirmed that hydrogen produced by CSS’s system meets and exceeds the UK Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard, with some configurations delivering net-negative emissions. The results open the way to scaling the plant into a commercial model.

Paul Willacy, CEO of Compact Syngas Solutions, said: “This is an incredible breakthrough for the waste-to-energy sector. We’ve proven our clean hydrogen process works at scale, getting real results from real waste – and we’ve done it with water, not harmful chemicals. The support from DESNZ has helped us to create a cleaner plant that turns waste into green hydrogen and clean electricity while capturing carbon.”