The waste reduction group WRAP have awarded funding to a partnership between bioeconomy consultants NNFCC and biomethane injection specialists CNG Services to assess the feasibility of developing biogas networks in the UK. The partnership will be working with a group of farmers in Cheshire as a test case and the funding has been awarded as part of WRAP’s ‘Driving Innovation in Anaerobic Digestion’ (DIAD) programme. The scheme helps companies developing projects, concepts or modifications to take their ideas through to the market penetration stage.
Biogas networks offer small-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) developers an opportunity to combine resources in order to cut the costs of selling gas to the national grid and the feasibility study will look at feedstock and technology options as well as the viability of a number of business models, health and safety requirements, ownership of infrastructure and regulations potentially presenting a barrier to development.
“Many farmers are interested in anaerobic digestion but don't want to go it alone, the idea of a hub of farms feeding the national grid with low carbon gas is therefore attractive” said Lucy Hopwood, Head of Biomass and Biogas at NNFCC. “Developing biogas networks could be an important way of getting more farmers involved in anaerobic digestion, which will benefit the rural economy and improve farm resource efficiency, such as nutrient and water management. It could also provide a major boost to the renewable heat market, helping to displace the use of fossil fuels.”
The partnership has received support from the National Grid, Arla Foods and the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) as well as Honesty Food Ltd, a consortium of dairy farmers in Cheshire.
“The use of biogas networks and a central gas upgrading plant can provide a highly efficient way to reduce the carbon footprint of the dairy sector and we welcome interest in this concept” said John Baldwin, Managing Director of CNG Services Ltd.
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