NL Agency - Ministry of Economic Affairs

Supported technologies


	Natural Gas Combined Cycle plants	Fuel switching, or the replacement of fossil fuels with a high carbon content with low-carbon fuels, is one of the principal methods suggested to reduce CO₂ emissions from energy consumption in the near future. Since natural gas has a lower carbon content than coal or oil, switching from coal to gas as the primary fuel for electricity generation can result in a 50% reduction of CO₂ emissions per kWh
	LPG and LNG for Household and Commercial Cooking	LNG consists mainly of methane, which has a boiling point of –164 ⁰C and for liquefaction requires cryogenic insulated tanks at about atmospheric pressure. Recent practice has been to liquefy the gas that is normally flared in oil fields in remote areas, but it can also be made from landfill gas when purified. LNG is about 1/614th the volume of natural gas at standard temperature and pressure, making it much more cost-efficient to transport over long distances, especially where pipelines do not exist. Similar to LPG, this portability is a major asset.
	Methane Capture at Landfills for Electricity and Heat	Under the anaerobic (oxygen free) conditions of landfill sites, organic waste is broken down by micro-organisms, leading to the formation of landfill gas (LFG). LFG is a gaseous mixture which consists mostly of methane and carbon dioxide, but also of a small amount of hydrogen and occasionally trace levels of hydrogen sulphide.
	Coal mine/bed methane recovery	Methane is the primary constituent of natural gas and is stored within coal as a result of the coalification process whereby plant material is converted to coal. Due to coal mining activities (and subsequent pressure decrease in coal seams), methane is released from the coal and surrounding strata. This leads to the build-up of methane in mines, which potentially creates an explosive hazard. Ventilation and/or degasification systems are used to prevent the build up of methane and to ensure its release to the atmosphere for safety reasons.
	Pulverised Coal Combustion with higher efficiency	Pulverised coal power plants account for about 97% of the world's coal-fired capacity. The conventional types of this technology have an efficiency of around 35%. For a higher efficiency of the technology supercritical and ultra-supercritical coal-fired technologies have been developed. These technologies can combust pulverised coal and produce steam at higher temperatures and under a higher pressure, so that an efficiency level of 45% can be reached (ultra-supercritical plants).