KLIMAKRAFT

The X-Energy impulse project KLIMAKRAFT is the continuation of the impulse project READi™-PtL and is intended to make a contribution to climate protection and future mobility. As part of the project, several objectives are to be pursued in two consecutive projects: In the first phase of the project, KLIMAKRAFT - Basic Engineering, the developed process for converting waste fats into drop-in fuels will be optimized in order to achieve scaling to the next technology readiness level (TRL 6 to TRL 7). To this end, "KLIMAKRAFT - Basic Engineering" will scale up, install and operate a continuous solids discharge system for the solid residues formed in the process. In the subsequent project "KLIMAKRAFT - Next Level", the process will be transferred to another type of waste.

Here, plastic waste would be an option to support the circular economy and supply the mobility sector with waste-based fuels. At this point, the specialist waste management company Krebs Brüggen Sekundärrohstoffe GmbH & Co. KG (KBS) is involved as an SME.

The fuels produced in the project are intended to achieve drop-in quality for conventional engines, thereby overcoming the blending limitations of conventional biofuels. Mobility, which is currently still based on liquid fuels to the tune of over 97%, can thus contribute to climate protection without changing drive systems or infrastructure.

The solution consists of the further development of the new and cost-effective two-stage technology from the project READi™-PtL: in the first stage, bio-oils are obtained thermochemically from residual and waste materials. In the second stage, the bio-oils are refined using hydrogenating hydrogen (H₂) to produce liquid hydrocarbons as the basis for fuel products. The H₂ required is conceptually obtained using renewable electricity via the system-serving electrolysis of water. In this way, this two-stage process concept belongs to the group of PtL (Power to Liquid) systems and represents an option for potentially grid-stabilizing energy storage.