THE ENER-G Group is a UKbased, but internationally active, organisation which seeks to take an environmentally and socially responsible approach to both the generation and consumption of energy, while at the same time retaining its commercial viability.

The company operates across four main divisions to deliver sustainable, energy efficient technologies to its industrial, commercial and public sector customers around the world, with operations spanning from Europe to Mexico and South Africa. Its cogeneration operation deals with the on site generation of electricity, heating and cooling, its renewable energy arm uses biogas to generate electricity from landfill gases and its energy management business seeks to help clients reduce energy consumption through a varirety of means from consultancy services to the installation of hardware to reduce consumption. Finally, its energy from waste operation, Energos, seeks to provide an alternative to landfill by recovering and using energy from residual waste.

The company has expanded rapidly in recent years, both organically and through acquisitions such as that of the Norwegian plants that form the bedrock of Energos’ operations. Indeed, in the current financial climate, the fact that these acquisitions represent a tried and tested model could prove crucial to Energos’ ongoing success, says managing director Tony Grimshaw: “The current economic situation means that funding for new and exploratory technologies is increasingly hard to come by,” he explains. “The fact that our methods are proven make this less of an issue, as we don’t need to seek funding for new or unproven technologies. Our methods are tried and tested - they create energy, they dispose of waste and they are proven to be both technologically and financially sound. The fact that we rely on small scale, local offerings mean that where funding may be required we can usually seek it from one bank, so the complications currently caused by banks’ unwillingness to lend to each other should also largely pass us by.”

Energos’ speciality is gasification technology. The company designs, builds and operates small scale local facilities which can convert nonrecyclable residual waste into sustainable, low emission energy, reducing the need to use fossil fuels. Of course, burning waste to provide energy is nothing new, but, as technical director Tony Grimshaw explains, there are some crucial differences to Energos’ approach: “We’re not seeking to offer incineration as an alternative to recycling,” he explains. “Our model is highly flexible, so it can be used as an addition to recycling. Whichever waste products can be recycled in a specific locality can be taken off to recycle, and our factories have the flexibility to adapt and use whatever materials are left over to produce heat and electricity.

“The other crucial difference between our methods and traditional incineration is that we use gasification. The products we are burning to create the energy are converted to a gas before we burn them. Gas is much cleaner burning than solids, so we minimise by-products like ash, and what by-products are created have a much lower carbon content than those created by traditional incineration. We also have much greater control over the incineration process - it’s much easier to exert control over a burning gas than burning solids. Put quite simply, think of how much more flexible a gas hob is than a bonfire.”

Grimshaw continues: “The other result of this is that, compared to incineration that burns solids, we are not producing nitrogen oxides or carbon monoxide, so we’re able to help meet environmental targets, while simultaneously generating energy.”

These claims are supported by an independent report from Juniper Consulting, which looked at pollutant levels at the company’s Norwegian plants: “The claim by Energos that the process is ‘environmentally friendly’ is backed up by very low pollutant levels measured at Hurum and Aver¯y. These emissions are probably the lowest measured anywhere for this type of process, particularly the NOx figures which can only be achieved by competing technologies with the application of de-NOx systems.”

Grimshaw adds that these de-Nox systems are an extremely expensive option, as a result of which companies employing them are only likely to reduce emissions to the maximum level permitted - significantly higher than Energos’ minimal emissions.

Another advantage of Energos’ approach is its desire to pursue a highly localised agenda. In Knowsley, where it is building its latest UK facility, the company plans to provide heat to neighbouring businesses on the industrial park where it is located. Grimshaw says: “Because we’re looking at a small-scale facility, there is much less for residents to object to. In fact, the reports into the plant show that its effects on locals will be minimal, especially since thanks to the small size we can build it on an existing industrial estate with no need to swallow swathes of green field space as is often the case with larger power plants, which understandably cause a lot of concern among those living in their vicinity.

“In keeping with our localised agenda, by installing a distribution network we can also supply heat, that is created as a by-product of the process, direct to our neighbours, in this case two small chemical plants and a printing press. At other plants we’ve also been able to install distribution networks to provide heat to local homes, and this is an option that’s always available if local residents or businesses want it.”

Energos’ first UK plant is already in operation in the Isle of Wight, where the company converted an existing incinerator. The new plant, with a footprint of only 400 sq metres, is able to process 30,000 tonnes of waste every year, converting it to an annual energy output of 13.5 GWh which it sells to the national grid. With fossil fuels an increasingly scarce commodity, such approaches to energy production offer a real alternative to the traditional methods of energy creation, as well as creating an alternative conceptual approach to the current one, where the UK is becoming increasingly reliant on imported energy. The disadvantages of this are clear. Rapidly rising energy prices make this only too clear, while the world’s unpredictable political climate also makes overreliance on foreign energy a road that should not be followed too closely. With its ability to produce localised energy, simultaneously disposing of waste, reducing the need for landfill and dovetailing its operation with existing recycling programmes to meet both emissions and recycling targets, Energos’ approach could well represent a glimpse of the future.

The company already has seven plants in operation - five in Norway, one in Germany and the Isle of Wight plant that opened this year. The factories themselves are able to produce a variety of power up to around 190 GWh a year, while maintaining a low profile both architecturally and environmentally, and in some cases providing local heating networks as well as electricity.

The idea of a non-intrusive, locally popular power station which both helps the environment and provides affordable heat and power to local residents and the national grid may once have seemed a flight of fantasy, but should the technology employed by Energos continue growing at its current rate, it could well be a lot closer than we thought