Food scraps and farm waste to be chewed up to create energy

The Times
February 17, 2009
Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter

Plans to build more than 1,000 anaerobic digesters to turn unwanted food and farm waste into energy and fertiliser will be unveiled today.
Anaerobic digesters break down organic waste naturally into a solid that can be used as fertiliser and a gas that can be burnt to generate heat and electricity.
Jane Kennedy, the Environment Minister, will declare anaerobic digesters the solution to organic waste. She will also launch a task group with instructions to identify how many should be installed by other sectors, such as the water industry, to make anaerobic digestion “a major source of renewable energy”.
Other countries, notably Germany, have made widespread use of anaerobic digesters, and ministers are anxious to increase the number in Britain to reduce pressure on landfill sites and to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Farms produce 90 million tonnes of waste, including manure and slurry, while a further 12 to 20 million tonnes of wasted food and food scraps go into landfill after being thrown away by households, businesses, restaurants and hotels.

Ms Kennedy hopes that an agreement with the National Farmers’ Union and other representatives of the agriculture sector will lead to the use of 1,000 anaerobic digesters by 2020. At present there are estimated to be about 20. The digesters are expected to make many farms self-sufficient in electricity. Any excess could be passed on to the national grid.
The water industry, which has to deal with 1.73 million tonnes of sewage sludge annually, is also likely to find a use for digesters. Similarly, ministers will expect businesses and local authorities to increase the quantity of food waste that goes into them. Ms Kennedy will point out that if all the organic waste in Britain were recycled in this way, enough energy would be generated to provide two million homes with heat and electricity.