A COMPANY which turns plastic and old tyres into fuel has been showing off how the system works.

PowerHouse Energy Group gave technology demonstrations at Thornton Science Park to representatives from the University of Chester, industry partners and suppliers, investors, PowerHouse employees and representatives of the local business community.

The company’s ‘distributed modular gasification’ technology turns both industrial and municipal solid wastes into synthesis gas which can generate electricity or be separated into hydrogen for road fuel and other fuel cell applications.

Its system uses waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill, such as plastic and old tyres, as fuel and has the potential to dramatically cut landfill as well as enable the production of hydrogen on a distributed commercial scale.

Keith Allaun, chief executive of PowerHouse Energy, said: “We aim to turn waste into energy to help meet growing demand for clean electricity and green road fuel to replace petrol and diesel.

“The opportunity to take plastics out of our environment, and end-of-life tyres out of landfills – and extract a stream of hydrogen from what was once a scourge on our planet, is gratifying.

“Our goal is simple: to become a cornerstone of the hydrogen economy.

“We are delighted to welcome visitors to Thornton Science Park to show off these superb facilities and the progress we have made in our trials.”

The company was the first tenant of the Energy Centre at the University of Chester’s Thornton Science Park when it installed its test unit in May.

Earlier this year PowerHouse signed a memorandum of understanding with Peel Environmental Ltd and its subsidiary This is Protos LLP to pursue the development, construction and operation of an energy from waste plant at Peel Environmental’s Protos facility near Chester.