UK moves forward with renewable energy pledge
July 6, 2010 by scasola
Filed under Featured, Waste Management, renewable energy
Anaerobic digestion is a hot topic in the United Kingdom these days when it comes to waste management. The Coalition government is forging ahead with its highly publicized plans to provide more anaerobic digestors to generate heat and electricity from organic waste.
Anaerobic digester by Greenfinch Ltd.
According to an article in today’s BusinessGreen.com, ministers met with representatives across the industry to identify any barriers to the sustainable technology.
As reporter James Murray noted:
“The technology is fueled using biomass such as animal manure, sewage or food waste, which is digested by enzymes working in the absence of oxygen to produce methane. The methane is captured and can be burned off onsite to produce electricity and heat, converted into biofuel, or upgraded to biomethane which can be fed into the national gas grid. The resulting waste material can also be used as fertilizer.”
Anaerobic digestion is well suited to farms and businesses that produce large amounts of organic and food waste. As the article mentions, it also has the power to reduce the amount of organic waste going to landfills and can cut greenhouse emissions.
Roundtable discussions will tackle everything from the financial benefits and viability of using anaerobic digestion to ways the government can harness the power of biogas produced through this energy conversion technology.
If you were in attendance, what questions or concerns would you have? What would you most want to know about the addition of this technology on a much broader scale?