THE green light has been given to demolish a row of buildings in order to clear the way for an environmental research project.

Plans have been approved by Warrington Borough Council for the demolition of a former Stepping Stones day nursery building and Coniston Three building.

Located on Watergrove Crescent at Lingley Mere Business Park, it is proposed that these would make way to form a carbon sequestration facility.

Details of the project are outlined in planning documents by applicant Severn Wye Energy Agency.

These state: “The Mersey Biochar project is part of the direct air capture and greenhouse gas removal programme.

“The aim is to research approaches, technological and commercial, to removing carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases from atmosphere at a cost as low as possible.

“In principle, the project will produce heat while utilising a capture at source technology – so that carbon is captured before reaching the atmosphere.

“This is done via a biomass pyrolysis plant where woodchip is heated in a kiln in a lack of oxygen which produces syngas and biochar.

“In place of the emissions being emitted to atmosphere, most of the carbon will be captured in a ‘char’, which can then be repurposed in a multitude of other products.

“The syngas produced in the kiln will be burnt in a thermal oxidiser, generating hot combustion gases which are fed back to the kiln to provide the warming for the pyrolysis process, or syngas and char production.

“The residual heat given off from this process will be ducted to a testbed for the compressed air energy storage solution with spare connections available to integrate further emerging innovative technologies.”