Pyrochemy

Problem statement

High production of agriwastes that can become an environmental problem.

Executive summary

Pyrochemy is a renewable energy technology developed by PyroGenesys, it was developed as a carbon removal system for converting agricultural waste to renewable electricity, process heat & biofuels.

Technology description

Pyrochemy utilises the Pyrolysis process combined with state of the art compact containerised technology. The Pyrochemy unit has the advantage of being transportable to remote locations worldwide with ease. The Pyrochemy unit can then use waste biomass from these locations to generate electricity, heat and biofuels. The Pyrochemy process utilises Pyrolysis, the rapid heating of biomass in the absence of oxygen. Without oxygen, instead of combusting at high heats the biomass goes through pyrolysis to create energy and nutrient rich products. The pyrolysis process produces a number of products: the carbon content of the biomass is turned into biochar which can be spread on fields to increase crop yields and directly contributes to carbon sequestration. Hot syngas is also produced which can be used to drive a steam generator and steam turbine to create electricity, or it can be condensed into bio oil which can be upgraded to Kerosene or Diesel. The Pyrochemy unit is designed to use waste biomass as its feedstock. Initial configurations are for harvest waste of common staple foods such as cassava, rice, soy and groundnut. But it can be configured to any harvest waste. The Pyrochemy technology can be upscaled to fit most needs. Current scaling is focussing on rural mini grids, small-medium sized rural communities of up to 300. There is also a focus on farming communities to provide energy for farming and post farm processing equipment. These are particularly attractive as they often have large amounts of waste biomass.

Market deployment considerations

Demand: there will always be a demand for more efficient and effective power generation technologies that are capable of delivering quality power, electricity, heat and fuel, to communities that need it most. Pyrochemy can achieve this across a number of scales, its modular design means it is easy to scale up and down relevant to the communities need.

Supply: Pyrochemy requires a supply of biomass, Africa produces massive amounts of harvest waste to feed its ever growing population, to the point where some communities are being affected by the toll the waste takes on the land. Harvest waste management is ineffective and can damage what was once fertile land. The Pyrochemy solves this issue by creating a use for the waste, removing it from the community and creating incredible products which can even increase land fertility.

PyroGenesys has been part of several bioeconomy implementation projects including:

Rural Industrialization via Energy Technologies (RIVET), using Human-Centred Design (HCD) to understand how best to integrate our technology in a way that will positively change the attitude, skills and knowledge of garri frying women in the host communities in Nigeria. https://pyrogenesys.com/portfolio/rivet/

Energy Access Africa (EAA), The EAA project would ultimately ensure that even remote Sub-Saharan African communities have access to renewable power generated and distributed by PyroGenesys and our supply chain partners in Sierra Leone. https://pyrogenesys.com/portfolio/eaa/

Ethiopian Mini-grid Extensions & Energy Storage (EMEES), a Feasibility Study which will assess the viability of setting up an in-country Pyrochemy demonstration plant in Ethiopia. https://pyrogenesys.com/portfolio/emees/

Environmental considerations

The biggest impact would be shipping the unit to Africa. However, the Pyrochemy technology has the ability to offset its carbon footprint very quickly, and once on site its is incredibly efficient. As production increases, manufacturing would be moved to Africa, mitigating the environmental impacts of transport and creating local jobs in the process.