Tackle blackouts and price hikes with biogas
9 Oct 2012
Charlotte Morton, chief executive of the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA) responds to George Osborne’s speech proposing a generous tax regime for shale gas and the release of Ofgem’s first annual Electricity Capacity Assessment:.
Biogas from anaerobic digestion (AD), one of the few sources of renewable gas, will, along with investment in other renewables, help diversify the UK energy market and significantly increase generation capacity within the timescale needed and at relatively low cost.
Not only will it help to provide price security for consumers but, since it’s a renewable gas, will also help the UK to meet its climate change targets.
Mr Osborne has recognised that we need to invest in renewable energy; however we would like to see more focused support for our best source of unconventional gas, biogas from AD, which can provide energy security at a lower cost and, since it’s renewable, with far lower carbon emissions and environmental impact than more experimental technologies like shale gas.
Faced with the prospect of spare generation capacity falling 10% in three years and unprecedented increases in electricity prices the government needs to invest strategically in alternative energy sources.
AD can be scaled up fast and cheaply and with the right support could generate 40 TWh of biogas, equivalent to 10% of the UK’s domestic gas demand, at the same time as boosting economic growth and creating 35,000 jobs.
The government’s plans for Electricity Market Reform (EMR) and the Energy Bill must address the issues of coherent support for financial incentives in line with the benefits of low carbon generation not just security and supply.
It is important to ensure that future generation capacity not only meets our energy requirements but that the carbon footprint of electricity is reduced as well.
