Statistic
The Renewable Energy sector is projected to undergo a period of tremendous growth with over £100 billion worth of investment opportunities and up to half a million jobs expected by 2020
Support for anaerobic digestion
European legislation such as the Waste Framework Directive and the Landfill Directive is driving the UK away from reliance on landfill to other options higher up the waste hierarchy such as recycling and energy recovery. At some point it is likely that it will no longer be legal to put organic waste in landfill in the UK.
Anaerobic digestion is a low-carbon process that meets these twin requirements by:
- Recovering value from waste.
- Diverting waste from landfill.
- Reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
- Avoiding methane emissions.
- Reducing the use of fossil-fuel derived fertiliser.
- Rcycling nutrients.
- Treating waste locally.
Anaerobic digestion is recognised by the government, Defra, the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, Friends of the Earth and the National Farmers Union as one of the best methods for the sustainable management of food waste, farm waste and sewage sludge.
The use of anaerobic digestion to produce renewable energy, reduce carbon emissions and prevent pollution contributes to any organisation's green credentials.
Support and commitment to AD
Anaerobic Digestion - Shared Goals (ad-sharedgoals-090217.pdf) sets out collective ambitions for the use of anaerobic digestion in the UK. It was published by Defra in February 2009 following discussions with agriculture and biogas industries, supermarkets, water and energy companies, the waste and food sectors, academics, Regional Development Agencies, local government and regulators.
A number of support mechanisms exist in the UK to incentivise the production of renewable energy using anaerobic digestion. Originally these were based on tradable Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) and Levy Exemption Certificates (LECs) for renewable electricity production. More recently Feed In Tariffs (FITs) have been introduced, initially for renewable electricity but in time to include renewable heat and the injection of biomethane into the gas grid. If the biogas is upgraded to a vehicle fuel it can also benefit from renewable fuel incentives.
