This comes at a crucial time for the UK on its journey to net zero as it supports Manchester’s goal of becoming a zero-carbon city by 2038 and the decarbonisation journey of the water industry.
WD News: Sewage biogas produced in Manchester is all set to become a sustainable feed source for graphene and hydrogen production with the new partnership between Levidian and United Utilities.
The Government-funded collaboration is a first for the UK water industry and will see Levidian’s LOOP technology used to decarbonise biogas created within the wastewater treatment process. Along with producing hydrogen, the technology will also produce graphene, a highly useful material, which was first discovered in Manchester. It is stronger than steel and thinner than paper.
The LOOP100 system, developed by Cambridge climate tech company Levidian, will be installed at United Utilities’ Manchester Bioresources Centre at Davyhulme and used to decarbonise biogas produced at the facility. This trial follows a successful feasibility study and will serve as the first demonstration of a LOOP100. The project has been awarded £3m funding from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Competition and will deliver more than 1,000 hours of in-situ testing, verifying the production of separated hydrogen and graphene.
As part of the project, Liverpool John Moores University will assess the potential usage of hydrogen within the Liverpool City region and Jacobs will provide expertise in carbon lifecycle assessment, social value analysis, and commercialisation. Applications of graphene produced by the LOOP will be developed jointly by Levidian and United Utilities with particular focus on reducing the carbon footprint of concrete used within United Utilities’ capital programme.
While the demonstrator LOOP100 will be capable of processing around 15m3 of biogas per hour, this demonstration is intended to be a stepping stone toward larger installations, enabling United Utilities to sustainably produce hydrogen from biogas.
Source & image courtesy: Levidian
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