Green gas industry ‘could quadruple’
22 Dec 2015
Additional funding for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) budget has the potential to increase the green gas industry fourfold, the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA) has said.
The £1.15 billion allocation for the RHI budget by 2021, announced during November's Spending Review, could support the construction of an additional 140 biomethane plants, and has the potential to heat almost 500,000 homes.
The data, released last month in ADBA’s Market Report, highlights how biomethane deployment is set to build upon record growth since last December, which has witnessed a quadrupling of plant numbers from 10 to 40.
The market report forecasts there could be as many as 180 biomethane plants in operation by 2021, if a reasonable proportion of the RHI budget is allocated to anaerobic digestion (AD) and the scheme structure is workable.
The additional biomethane deployment could also create around 5,000 extra construction jobs over the next five years, said ADBA’s chief executive, Charlotte Morton.
“Our case is strong. Not only will the additional 140 biomethane plants provide a source of indigenous gas, reducing our dependence on natural gas imports from volatile parts of the world, and creating thousands of manufacturing jobs, but will do so by generating value from municipal waste otherwise destined for expensive landfill.”
“Indigenous gas from anaerobic digestion has the potential to meet as much as 30% of the UK’s domestic gas or electricity demand – or for that matter to fuel 80% of heavy goods vehicles,” she said.
Meanwhile, a report published by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) outlined the need to decarbonise waste treatment and farming industries if carbon abatement targets are to be met.
Explaining AD’s relevance to the CCC’s work, the body’s chief executive Matthew Bell said 1% per year reduction in carbon emissions was needed from agriculture to 2030, and this will require a range of measures, not least of which being anaerobic digestion.
Morton said AD has the potential to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions alone by 4%, saving approximately £1.2 billion in carbon abatement costs.
“With the RHI budget commitment, AD can now deliver a third of the additional 20TWh renewable heat required by 2020 to meet the government’s 12% target.
“Aside from the avoided fossil fuel emissions borne from generating renewable energy, AD also reduces emissions from rotting manure, landfilled food waste and expensive carbon-intensive manufactured fertiliser,” she said.
ADBA calculates that these savings are worth £65 per megawatt hour in carbon abatement.
