Media Centre:
Press releases
BIOGEN plays host to key members of Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and the Agricultural Sector Associations' Climate Change Task Force
Agriculture can help with climate change – but don’t destroy competitiveness with red tape
A top level meeting at BIOGEN (UK) Ltd. has discussed how agriculture can make a significant contribution to UK climate change targets – but the government must not be tempted to strangle the golden goose.
The company played host to key members of the Shadow Secretariat for the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and the Agricultural Sector Associations’ Climate Change Task Force at their offices in Milton Ernest, just north of Bedford.
Peter Kendall, President of the National Farmers Union (NFU) and Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, President of the Country Land & Business Association (CLA) delivered a joint statement on behalf of the Climate Change Task Force to Lord Adair Turner, Chair of the CCC.
They are urging the CCC to recognise the unique role of agriculture in providing renewable natural resources together with other environmental services.
The CCC is currently producing its first report which will be published in December 2008. This will provide independent evidence-based advice to Government on the targets it should set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from now until 2050. Within this, the Committee will set carbon budgets for the UK economy up to 2022 and a long-term target to 2050. The report will advise on how different sectors of the economy including the agricultural sector can contribute to reducing UK greenhouse gas emissions.
Members of the CCC and Climate Change Task Force were given a tour of BIOGEN’s Twinwoods Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant and Bedfordia Farms.
Lord Adair Turner, Chair of the CCC said, "This farm shows what potential there is for the agriculture sector to contribute to reducing UK Greenhouse Gas emissions. I was particularly interested to see the way that BIOGEN and Bedfordia Farms are working with local supermarkets and councils, taking their food waste and breaking this down, alongside farm waste, to produce electricity. We will be presenting our advice to Government in December on how the UK can meet its targets to reduce its emissions, and as part of this, we will comment on the role of the agricultural sector".
Peter Kendall, NFU President explained, “We are urging the Climate Change Committee to take an economically viable and evidence-based approach to greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. BIOGEN is an excellent demonstration of the way forward for agriculture …integrating livestock with environmental services in the form of low-carbon energy, sustainable waste management and precision farming."
Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, CLA President, added, “We think by the end of this visit Lord Turner appreciated that agriculture really is different. It produces non-CO2 greenhouse gases, which are orders of magnitude more complex than CO2 to understand, to measure and to control. Farming is a highly fragmented industry, producing freely tradable goods and as an industry has little ability to pass on cost increases down the chain to consumers. But most of all, and unlike any other sector of the economy, agriculture offers a multitude of routes through which it can offer solutions to climate change by dealing with wastes, producing renewable energy and displacing greenhouse gases otherwise emitted from other sectors.”
Also at the meeting, the Agricultural Industries Confederation’s Head of Environment Policy, Jane Salter, explained that the AIC is investing in the technical advice and services necessary to support farmers in planning their nutrient use as accurately as possible. The AIC will also help them improve nitrogen efficiencies which is the single most effective way of reducing the nitrous oxide associated with additions to the soil without emissions swapping.
John Ibbett, Chairman of BIOGEN said, “We were delighted to have had the opportunity to host this event and showcase how the practical application of the latest farming technologies along with Anaerobic Digestion can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce the impact on Climate Change.”
The industry representatives were keen to impress on Lord Turner the need for understanding when setting targets for agriculture. There are fears in the farming community that if emissions targets are made too ambitious there will be a serious impact on competitiveness. This would lead to a rash of foreign food imports from countries making little or no attempt to cut their own greenhouse gas pollution.
Notes to Editors:
The Agricultural Sector Associations’ Climate Change Task Force members include the National Farmers Union (NFU), Country Land & Business Association (CLA) and the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC). It was launched in January 2007 to present a united stance against the serious threat that climate change can pose to agricultural production and the rural sector.
Bedfordia Group
BIOGEN (UK) Ltd. and Bedfordia Farms are part of the Bedfordia Group of Companies.
BIOGEN
BIOGEN’s pioneering Twinwoods Anaerobic Digestion plant was one of the first commercial Anaerobic Digestion plants in the UK. It combines food waste and the farm’s own pig slurry producing enough renewable electricity to continuously power a thousand homes. The remaining bio-fertiliser is used to grow more crops. The plant saves around 30,000 tonnes of carbon per year from food waste which is diverted away from landfill.
Bedfordia Farms
Its farmland is located around Milton Ernest and Knotting in North Bedfordshire. The total farm size is 2,200 hectares of which 1,870ha is cropped and 151ha set aside.
It uses state-of-the-art farm machinery and equipment to ensure maximum efficiency and environmental benefit. Some examples of the machinery currently in use include:
A John Deere 9630 articulated tractor which is one of the largest in the UK. It is equipped with a GPS auto-steering system with an accuracy of plus or minus 50mm. This reduces operator fatigue and increases output by 10% with a similar reduction in fuel consumption. The tractor which applies the bio-fertiliser is also fitted with GPS & mapping technology.
A Bateman 40m Crop Sprayer (5000 litre) which is one of the largest capacity sprayers in the UK. It applies all the farm’s liquid fertiliser and crop protection chemicals. To improve the accuracy of applications an ‘N Sensor’ has been fitted which measures infra red light reflectance of the crops and so can establish plant thickness or density. Within set criteria, the ‘N Sensor’ works by balancing the crop Nitrogen requirement after the bio-fertiliser application. The sprayer booms also have GPS controlled auto on/ controls. By avoiding excess application the crop requirements are optimised, efficiency improved and environmental impact minimised.
Committee on Climate Change (CCC)
The Committee on Climate Change is being established as a high-profile independent statutory body. It will be the first of its kind, bringing together different strands of expertise from the fields of climate science and policy, economics, business competitiveness and financial management. It will draw on existing information and undertake its own analysis to provide expert advice to Ministers. To ensure the Committee is able to provide its advice on the first three carbon budgets by December 2008, as required in the Bill currently before Parliament, the Committee is currently operating in “shadow” form as a non-statutory body.
For more information on the Committee, go to:
DEFRA: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/legislation/committee/index.htm
Office of Climate Change: http://www.occ.gov.uk/activities/ccc.htm
For more information on each of the individual organisations, please go to:
BIOGEN www.biogen.co.uk
Bedfordia Farms www.bedfordia.co.uk
NFU www.nfuonline.com
CLA www.cla.org.uk
AIC www.agindustries.org.uk
Issued by:
Julia Dunmow, Marketing Manager, BIOGEN (UK) Ltd
Tel: 01234 827256 email: julia.dunmow@biogen.co.uk
Sharon Hockley, Senior Press and PR Officer, NFU
Tel: 02476 858678 email: Sharon.Hockley@nfu.org.uk
Jane Salter, Head of Environment Policy, AIC
Tel: 01733 385272 email: jane.salter@agindustries.org.uk
Emily Towers, Communications Manager, Shadow Secretariat for the Committee on Climate Change
Tel: 020 7238 5717 email: emily.towers@occ.gsi.gov.uk
Oliver Wilson, Director of Communication, CLA
Tel: 020 7460 7936 email: ollie.wilson@cla.org.uk
New Chief Executive Officer for BIOGEN
BIOGEN (UK) Ltd. is pleased to announce the appointment of Dan Poulson as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer.
The appointment marks the latest milestone in the growth of the Bedfordshire based Integrated Anaerobic Digester (IAD) business, part of the Bedfordia Group of companies.
“It’s a great privilege to be joining BIOGEN at such an exciting time, particularly with planning permission having just been granted for the second generation BIOGEN plant at Westwood in Northamptonshire”, says Dan. “Anaerobic digestion is a green technology that is growing in popularity and is unique as it has no environmental downside. It produces no waste.”
Dan has an impressive track record in developing technology companies from startup and has worked with well-known businesses such as Ove Arup, Gemini Consulting and Thorn EMI.
BIOGEN MD, Andrew Needham says, “Dan’s appointment is a significant moment in the history of the business. It proves that we are ready to make the next great leap forward, rolling out this fantastic technology all over the country, to the benefit of food producers, farmers and the wider community. I am confident that Dan will make a positive contribution to the company’s continued exciting development.”
Dan’s role is the fifth new appointment for BIOGEN this year and coincides with the company’s move into spacious, new contemporary office premises at its Milton Ernest headquarters.
For further information contact Anita Smith on:
Tel: 01234 827227
anita.smith@bedfordia.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
• Andrew Needham continues as MD of BIOGEN and John Ibbett will remain Chairman of BIOGEN and of Bedfordia Group.
• BIOGEN (UK) Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bedfordia Group. The company builds, funds and operates Anaerobic Digestion plants which convert waste food (which would otherwise be sent to landfill) and animal slurry into renewable electricity and a valuable bio-fertiliser.
• The existing Twinwoods plant is fuelled by food waste sent to the site by local authorities, food manufacturers and retailers and slurry from Bedfordia’s farming operation.
• One tonne of food waste processed by means of anaerobic digestion can prevent 4.5 tonnes of CO2 entering the atmosphere. The new Westwood plant will process 45,000 tonnes of food waste each year producing sufficient electricity to continuously power over 1,500 homes.
• The same amount of food waste can produce 500 tonnes of a superior bio fertiliser which is spread onto 2,250 acres of growing crop.
• The Twinwoods plant in Bedfordshire was officially opened in 2007 by Her Royal Highness, the Princess Royal.
BIOGEN gets ‘green light’ for new AD plant
Milton Ernest, Tuesday 13th May – BIOGEN (UK) Ltd received confirmation today that its planning application to build a farm-based Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant off the A6 at Westwood nr Rushden, Northamptonshire has been successful.
The AD plant, when fully operational, will take 41,000 tonnes of food waste per year, which would otherwise have gone to landfill. This will then be ‘naturally’ broken down using bacteria within sealed vessels to produce methane which will in turn generate enough renewable energy to power over 2,000 homes per year. The resulting product will be 34,400 tonnes a year of a bio-fertiliser that can be used on the arable crop on the adjacent farm fields reducing the need for inorganic fossil fuel fertilisers.
BIOGEN’s Managing Director Andrew Needham said “We are delighted that we have been given the ‘green light’ with this project. It has been a long time in planning, but it was important for us to address all the questions and concerns of the local communities and the planning committee on AD as well as explain its benefits. This is the first of our ‘second generation’ plants which we are planning to roll out to other sites throughout the UK.”
Work is scheduled to start on the construction of the new plant by the end of May 2008 and the plant should be operational by March 2009.
Notes to the Editor
BIOGEN uses its expertise and innovation in the latest environmental technologies to deliver solutions which meet today’s environmental challenges and support the sustainability of farming and rural communities, renewable energy production and waste recycling.
BIOGEN’s Twinwoods AD plant, situated just north of Bedford, is the first of its type in the country, fully integrated into a large scale farming operation.
BIOGEN is part of the eco-technology sector of the Bedfordia Group of companies.
For more information please visit www.biogen.co.uk
Issued by Julia Dunmow, Marketing Manager
Tel: 01234 827256
email: julia.dunmow@biogen.co.uk.
BIOGEN Address Waste Conference
Andrew Needham, AD (Anaerobic Digestion) expert and Managing Director of Bedfordshire firm BIOGEN will be one of the key speakers at a leading AD Conference in London on 22 May. Andrew will join Gary Alderson, Director of Environmental and Planning Services at Mid Beds District Council to deliver a joint presentation on the partnership between BIOGEN and the Council.
The Anaerobic Digestion & Alternative Waste Treatment Technologies conference is organised by Materials Recycling Week and is the leading forum for updating local authorities on the very latest developments in treating waste through new technologies. The BIOGEN and Mid Beds District Council presentation will focus on their joint experiences from the councils food waste collection trial and the benefits of the BIOGEN’s Integrated AD technology.
BIOGEN and Mid Beds District Council have agreed a 3 year contract for municipal household waste to be supplied to BIOGEN’S Anaerobic Digestion plant at Milton Ernest where it will be converted to renewable electricity and bio-fertiliser. The scheme was trialled for 12 months, and following its success will now be rolled out to a total of 54,500 homes in the Mid Beds area.
Gary Alderson of Mid Beds District Council said, “We are delighted to be working with BIOGEN on this exciting venture…we know the waste food we are collecting is being put to good use."
Andrew Needham, MD of BIOGEN agreed, “This is a good opportunity to further build the partnership between Mid Beds District Council and BIOGEN whilst providing the local community with an environmental solution for their food waste.”
/ Ends.
Notes to Editors:
Local authorities have to slash the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill to 75% of 1995 levels by 2010. By 2020, this amount has to be down to 35%.
For more information on BIOGEN's innovative Integrated Anaerobic Digestion process see www.biogen.co.uk
For details on the Anaerobic Digestion & Alternative Waste Treatment Technologies conference see www.alternative-waste.co.uk
BIOGEN Wins Waste Contract
Local firm BIOGEN were celebrating this week after landing a 3 year contract with Mid Beds District Council who will be supplying municipal household waste to BIOGEN’S Anaerobic Digestion plant at Milton Ernest.
The food waste which would otherwise be sent to landfill will be collected by the Council from local households and combined with pig slurry to make renewable electricity and a bio-fertiliser. The BIOGEN plant can process 30,000 tonnes of food waste a year – sufficient to power over 1,200 homes continuously.
BIOGEN and Mid Beds District Council have successfully trialled the scheme for the past 12 months. The scheme will be rolled out to a total of 54,500 homes. This will include 6,300 homes which were part of a successful 12 month trial.
Steve Whittaker of Mid Beds District Council said, “We are delighted to be working with BIOGEN on this exciting venture…we know the waste food we are collecting is being put to good use”.
Andrew Needham, MD of BIOGEN agreed, “This is a good opportunity to further build the partnership between Mid Beds District Council and BIOGEN whilst providing the local community with an environmental solution for their food waste.”
Notes to editor
BIOGEN (UK) Ltd have been operating a 42,000 tonne commercial AD plant since 2006 and currently provide AD waste food recycling solutions to Mid Bedfordshire District Council, Luton Borough Council and Ealing Council.
Royal Seal of Approval for BIOGEN
BIOGEN Twinwoods Integrated Anaerobic Digestion plant, in Bedfordshire has been officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal.
BIOGEN, part of the Eco-technology division of the Bedfordia Group of companies, produces renewable energy and fertiliser from a combination of food waste diverted from landfill and pig slurry. The enthusiastic response of the Princess showed this was clearly a subject close to her heart.
‘One of my pet whinges’ Her Royal Highness announced in an impromptu address to the gathered guests, “is what doesn’t happen to food waste and all other waste but BIOGEN seems to me to be proving not just the art of the possible but what is really necessary, and it’s done so efficiently and well.’
John Ibbett, Chairman of BIOGEN said: ‘With her long held interest in farming , Princess Anne was genuinely enthused to learn how we use slurry from our own pigs and combine it with local domestic and commercial food waste to create enough green electricity to power 1,000 homes, as well as a nutrient rich bio-fertiliser for use on our arable land.
‘We are extremely proud of our achievements in BIOGEN so far and the widespread interest and support we have received from industry bodies, politicians and the community alike, supports our belief that BIOGEN is leading the way in providing a national solution for waste producers, farmers and the environment alike."
The BIOGEN Twinwoods plant, the first of its kind in the UK, has been operational since 2005 and the official opening ceremony marks the start of the company’s plans to roll out a network of one hundred similar plants across the country over the next seven to ten years.
The Princess gave her full support to BIOGEN and concluded her visit by wishing John Ibbett and his team good luck with their expansion plans saying, “I hope that it (BIOGEN) will evolve and develop around the country because it does have such enormous potential for all of us.’
BIOGEN leads the way in the rapidly expanding UK Anaerobic Digestion industry producing clean, green energy from food chain waste.
Its Twinwoods plant is capable of accepting up to 30,000 tonnes of food chain waste per year from the 20-30 million tonnes of food waste produced by the UK. Combined with 12,000 tonnes of slurry, it can produce over 1MW of electricity (enough to power 1,000 homes) and over 1.5MW of heat.
BIOGEN’s AD plant is the first of its type in the country where it is fully integrated into a large scale farming operation.
18/05/2007
BIOGEN Short Listed for National Awards
Staff at Bedfordia Group are celebrating news that BIOGEN, part of the company’s Eco-technology sector, have been short listed for the ‘British Renewable Energy Innovation Award.’
