BIOGAS RENEWABLE FERTILISER FOR FARMING AND BIOGAS FOR HEATING, ELECTRICITY AND TRANSPORT
Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a natural process where plant and animal materials are broken down by micro-organisms in an air- tight tank, or digester. This releases a methane-rich biogas that can be used to generate renewable heat, power or transport fuel. Biogas can also be upgraded to grid quality gas and injected into the national gas network, where it can be used for heating or as a transport fuel. It also produces a valuable biofertiliser which can displace expensive mineral fertilisers whilst improving the soil. An REA subsidiary - Renewable Energy Assurance Limited - runs certification schemes assuring the quality of biofertiliser and compost and its Green Gas Certification Scheme tracks biomethane through the supply chain to enable its direct purchase by end-users of the gas grid.
Biogas is one of the most versatile energy solutions the UK has at its disposal. AD is a perfect example of how renewables can fit into, and improve already existing processes. There is a longstanding government ambition for 1000 on-farm AD plants by 2020, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by digesting their slurries and agricultural residues.
AD strikes to the heart of how we should be modelling our future energy use, making the most of our resources cost-effectively, deploying them locally, and ensuring that being far from onerous, they complement AD operators day-to-day processes.
AD is thriving at the large scale, especially plants handling food wastes, but the current drastic tariff reductions are bringing the medium- to small- part of the market to a halt. This situation has to be rectified quickly if the full potential for emissions savings
and growth in the rural economy is to be realised. It is also in this sector that a number of innovative British companies have developed, creating jobs and helping farmers to run economically and environmentally sustainable businesses and grow the rural economy.
MANIFESTO ASKS
• Commitment to AD - All scales form a vital part of reaching renewable targets and need policy certainty for the differing sizes and outputs under the support frameworks such as FITs, RO, RHI, RTFO and CfDs
• Clear direction for agriculture - Support for farm manure/slurry model of AD
• Remove unintended consequences - Review of Feed-in Tariffs for small AD in 2015 to correct flaws in the current cost control mechanism and reset tariffs to suitable levels
• Landfill ban on organic waste - Ban on landfilling of biodegradable waste to landfill, as already introduced in Scotland and Wales
• Support biomethane - Removal of final technical barriers to biomethane injection
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