This week Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced more government support for Anaerobic Digestion (AD) a process which essentially mimics the action of a cow’s stomach. AD turns food waste and manure into methane gas, which can then be used for transport, local generation of heat and power, or even injected back into the national gas grid. The government is spending £10m to support a series of demonstration sites across the country.
A pilot plant in Ludlow, Shropshire, not only generates electricity, but also keeps waste food out of landfill, where it eventually decomposes into methane anyway. When released into the atmosphere methane is eight times as potent a greenhouse gas as CO2, as a contributor to global warming.
The UK currently operates 10 AD plants, with another 10 under construction.