The DuPont Nutrition & Health plant in Grindsted, Denmark, will become virtually carbon dioxide neutral in 2017 when the plant’s large coal boiler is retrofitted to burn wood chips.
“To fire with wood chips instead of coal is a huge win for the environment,” says plant manager Martin K. Madsen in Grindsted.
“Not only will we remove 45,000 tons of carbon dioxide currently produced using non-renewable energy, but we will also increase the amount of ‘waste’ energy that we sell to the local district heating network.”
A reduction of 45,000 tons of carbon dioxide is equivalent to removing 20,000 average Danish cars from the road for a year.
The energy consumption at Grindsted, which is one of the world’s largest emulsifier plants and also produces other ingredients for the global food industry, corresponds to the heat consumption in a city with about 10,000 residents.
Local district heating switched on
DuPont has been working with the local district heating supplier for many years providing excess heat to the local district heating network in Grindsted since November 2011, covering about 8% of consumption.
The green transition will bring a further benefit to the 3,600 district heating consumers. The company will expand its delivery to cover about half the heat consumption by harvesting the excess heat in the flue gas that is emitted from the wood chip boiler.
The Danish Agency Energy will financially support DuPont in its sustainability energy measures at Grindsted with up to DKK 61 million (US$9.2 million).
DuPont has worked with the project for a few years and expects to start construction in August, so the plant will be operating by the first half of 2017.
