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WELSH SECTION AT CARDIFF’S ERF
By Thomas James,
Welsh Section Chair
THE WELSH SECTION’S visit to the
Cardi Energy Recovery Facility (ERF)
in October was attended by 10
delegates and was enjoyed by all.
The site receives around 250
lorries of black bag waste every day
from councils in the South Wales
area. This waste is burned with
electricity being generated from the
steam and heat. The representatives
of Viridor, which owns the facility,
were very helpful in answering a
large number of questions about the
process from the group.
The process is very e
cient and
safe with emissions treated to meet
the stringent European Waste
Incineration Directive (WID), which is
strictly enforced and monitored by
the Environment Agency and Natural
Resources Wales (NRW).
The visit included a tour of the site
control room, where one could see
into the waste bunker and observe
the grab cranes moving and mixing
the waste before it is burned in the
furnace at over 850°C.
The turbines produce up to 34MW improving resource e
ciency. alongside recycling, helps to meet
of electricity, which is fed into the In addition, the process produces landll targets.
electricity grid. bottom ash (the bulk of the remaining Energy recovery currently
The heat generated by the facility materials), which is recycled for use as accounts for approximately 1.5 per
can also be utilised locally, presenting aggregate material in the construction cent of UK electricity supply and
opportunities for additional industry. The energy recovery process this could rise to six per cent of the
commercial development and is well established and, when used UK total by 2020. ■
GAS PAST AND PRESENT
By Chris Hogg, North East & In our region, we are perhaps most
Yorkshire Section Chair familiar with the H21 project, however
there are a number of other projects
THE NORTH EAST & YORKSHIRE being conducted in the UK and Europe
Section returned to the plush that aim to demonstrate that hydrogen
surroundings of Rudding Park for this has a role to play in the future.
year’s Chair’s event. By collaborating with industry to
Following a light buet and some integrate heat, transport and
networking, the Section welcomed its commercial and industrial
speakers for the evening: Kate Jerey, applications, we can ensure hydrogen
from the Health and Safety has a part to play in decarbonising
Executive’s Centre for Energy, and the future of the gas system. second part examined gas and the gas
IGEM President Steve Edwards. Steve’s presentation came in two network as a key part of a resilient
Kate focused on the future of the UK parts. The rst looked at what IGEM energy system.
gas system from a safety standpoint can do to support you as an individual Both presentations were very well
and looked in-depth at hydrogen and the wide ranging benets of being received and sparked some challenging
research, both in the past and present. a member of the Institution, and the questions for our speakers. ■
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