In UK a facility owned and operated by J V Energen (a joint venture between local farmers and the Duchy of Cornwall) opened the first commercial scale food waste biogas anaerobic digester (AD) that inject renewable gas directly into the grid.
The plant has already been generating electricity since April this year, thanks to the technology supplied by German company Agraferm, and over the course of a year will export enough electricity for approximately 500 homes. The facility will use approximately 41.000 tonnes of food waste, maize and grass silage each year, which will be sourced from local farms and businesses, including Dorset Cereals and the House of Dorchester Chocolate Factory.
At maximum capacity, it is expected that the plant will provide enough gas for 56.000 new-build homes in the summer and 4.000 in the winter, producing a net carbon saving of around 4.435 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions a year. According to Charlotte Morton (chief executive of the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association) AD has the potential to generate £2 to 3 billion worth of green gas – equivalent to more than 10% of the UK’s domestic gas demand – and support 35.000 jobs.
Photo: courtesy of JV Energen LLP
