(Yicai) May 16 -- China's eastern metropolis Shanghai is helping the nation to reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2060 by finding new ways to convert waste into green energy.

Local companies such as Shenergy Group are innovating to convert wastewater and organic waste into hydrogen and methanol, used as fuel, Yicai learned.

Chengtou Water Group, a municipal manager of wastewater, and CEO Environmental Protection Technology, a supplier of environmental protection equipment, recently debuted a pilot of turning sludge into hydrogen at the Bailonggang wastewater treatment plant, the largest in Asia. The goal is to generate electricity and heat.

The pilot project, started on March 27, has a total investment of nearly CNY30 million (USD4.2 million) and covers an area of 2,000 square meters, said Lu Yufei, vice president of CEO Environment. It contains equipment for biogas and water electrolysis to produce the clean-burning fuel, and stores the energy in fuel cells or storage facilities, Lu added.

Since the start to May 14, the project churned out more than 25,000 standard cubic meters of green hydrogen, generated more than 10,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, recovered more than 36,000 megajoules of heat, and reduced carbon emissions by more than 6,000 kilograms, according to the company.

The plant consumes a lot of energy so generating hydrogen can respond to internal demand as well as meet external demand in the future, Lu said.

Another innovation aims to produce ship fuel. Shenergy, Shanghai’s largest natural gas supplier, and Songlin Food Group, a local pig breeding company, started operating a facility late last year to turn organic waste into biogas which can eventually become methanol.

The plant has produced about 100,000 cubic meters of biogas so far. The supporting equipment for methanol synthesis is under construction, expected to be ready by the end of next year, according to a person in charge at Shenergy.

In the future, Shenergy aims to extend this cooperation model to food waste treatment centers and large farms in Shanghai. These facilities can produce 200,000 cubic meters of biogas per day, corresponding to 100,000 tons of methanol per year.

The technical process is already well-developed but the bottleneck is collecting, storing, and transporting organic waste, the insider said, adding that Shanghai has intensive farming of livestock and poultry and the city is promoting waste recycling so the conditions are getting there.

Editor: Emmi Laine