BayoTech, IBMS Group launch food waste-to-hydrogen project

BayoTech and IBMS Group on May 24 announced an agreement to launch the U.K.’s first renewable hydrogen project using biomethane from food waste as a feedstock.  The project will produce 1,000 kilograms of renewable hydrogen per day to fuel zero-emission vehicles in the London and Surrey regions of the U.K. The partnership timed its public debut to support the launch of the CBI’s “Seize the Moment” initiative and emphasize the role of cleantech for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction in driving economic recovery as the U.K. comes out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This transatlantic partnership brings together two businesses committed to addressing the need for green fuel to decarbonize transport and energy intensive businesses. At IBMS’ multi-purpose eco-facility, biomethane will be produced from food waste and then converted to renewable hydrogen using BayoTech’s leading modular on-site hydrogen generation technology. The system is due to be online in the first half of 2022.

“BayoTech is thrilled to be working with IBMS Group on such a ground-breaking project. Using food waste to create zero carbon fuel is an excellent example of regional sustainability,” said Steve Jones, BayoTech’s vice president, Europe. “This tackles a bottleneck of renewable hydrogen availability in the U.K. and gives fleet operators immediate access to cost effective, carbon neutral or even carbon negative hydrogen.”

Adopting a model of regional hydrogen production and distribution reduces unnecessary costs, storage, and transportation, leading to a significantly lower carbon footprint overall when compared with traditional production models and electrolyser systems. Further phases of the project will see carbon capture introduced to take the project from carbon neutral to carbon negative. The combination of BayoTech’s systems and IBMS Group’s biomethane, with carbon capture, offers the most cost effective, decarbonized hydrogen available.

Steve Sharratt, CEO of IBMS Group, commented, “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the world’s leading modular on-site hydrogen generation provider and playing our part in satisfying the increasing demand for carbon neutral and negative hydrogen in the U.K. We look forward to launching the initial project next year and then rolling it out across multiple U.K. locations in the next few years to create a national network of carbon negative hydrogen production facilities.”

This announcement aligns perfectly with the launch of the CBI’s “Seize the Moment” initiative , a bold, ambitious strategy to build a dynamic, competitive and future-focused economy with a renewed focus on GHG reduction as the U.K. comes out of the COVID pandemic. Renewable hydrogen is a key contributor to the decarbonization aims of the “Seize the Moment” initiative.

Tom Thackray, director of infrastructure at the CBI said, “Today’s announcement marks an exciting next step in the U.K.’s leadership in green hydrogen production and deployment – as well as the decarbonization of mobility. Decarbonization presents a wealth of opportunities for business and low-carbon hydrogen will play a critical role in bolstering the U.K.’s economy and achieving net-zero by 2050. This hydrogen project is a key example of business seizing the moment to harness these opportunities.”