The future role of waste management in providing CO2 for power-to-X

• Carbon capture from waste is an important source of CO 2 for the power-to-x industry. • CO 2 from waste incineration is 30% of the total amount of available CO 2 in Denmark. • CO 2 captured from incineration may be utilized as carbon–neutral if a part is stored. Estimates were made of future annual amounts of CO 2 available in Denmark from point sources potentially suitable for carbon capture. This involved industrial plants, biomass-based energy plants, waste incinerators and biogas plants. The total amount of CO 2 potentially available in the future (around 9 million tons annually in Denmark) matches well the expected need for CO 2 to produce renewable fuels for sea and air transportation and for production of chemicals for Denmark by Power-to-X. CO 2 from waste incineration constitutes about 30% of the total amount of available CO 2 . Although the numbers are associated with significant uncertainty, the conclusion is that waste incineration may play an important role in supplying Power-to-X with CO 2 . The fossil part of the captured CO 2 affects its environmental and economic aspects, but climate neutral CO 2 from incinerators, even including climate neutral incinerators, can be obtained by routing part of the CO 2 (around 30–40%) to storage (CCS) and utilizing the remaining part (CCU). The assessment suggests that from the perspective of climate change impacts, it makes sense to introduce carbon capture at waste incinerators as both underground storage and utilization seem relevant. The issue addressed is relevant to other countries, but numbers as well as the potential importance of waste management in supplying CO 2 will vary.