Real-time 3D technologies helping us design our innovative greenhouse gas removals technology

Ricardo is currently installing a carbon negative combined heat and power demonstrator plant in the south of England.

It will showcase climate repairing technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrate effective community scale clean energy generation. 

The installation of our greenhouse gas removal demonstrator plant is underway and we are making good progress. We are using real-time 3D technologies to help realise our designs. The virtual reality environment was developed from the CAD models to enable our teams to visualise the environment at full scale, from within a VR headset, from anywhere. An extension of this same environment was developed into mixed reality to enable stakeholders to experience the hardware on location, months before hardware installation started, bringing the vision to life.

The plant will use sustainably sourced forestry waste to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, provide local communities with renewable heat and electricity, and help to deliver national energy security. The plant features technology from Ricardo, Woodtek Engineering and Bluebox Energy.

 A full-size plant can capture more than 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year. The biochar can be used by farmers to enrich soil and add to animal feed to reduce ruminant emissions. The industrial grade carbon dioxide can be used for either making low carbon concrete or in the food and drinks industry. And the heat and power produced means that the plant is not only good for the environment but is helping to provide energy security.