The National Grid of the UK has called for a multi-billion pound investment in anaerobic digestion and gasification facilities to turn biodegradable waste streams including food waste and wood waste into biogas to heat up to half of the UK's homes.
The power network has published a report in Feb 2009 which claims that using waste to produce biogas requires an additional investment of £10 billion on new waste infrastructure, on top of the £20 billion ‘sunk cost' the UK already requires to tackle "diminishing landfill capacity".
Commenting on the report, Janine Freeman, head of the National Grid's sustainable gas group, said: "Biogas has tremendous potential for delivering large scale renewable heat for the UK but it will require Government commitment to a comprehensive waste policy and the right commercial incentives."
The National Grid study, which was produced for the energy provider by analysts Ernst and Young, claims that, by 2020, waste streams including food waste, biodegradable waste, food waste and agricultural waste could be used to meet up to 18% of the UK's total gas demands, and up to 48% of its residential gas demands.
However, the report stresses that, for this to happen, action would need to be taken as soon as possible to ensure councils use anaerobic digestion (AD) or gasification technology, and not the other waste-to-energy options available to them.
Despite its support for using both AD and gasification technology, the report acknowledges issues with both options, describing AD as "not without its challenges", but highlighting that it is "a very well established technology".
At the same time, while admitting that gasification is "less well developed for use on waste", it added that it was "progressing and developing apace with demonstration plants being built in this country and around the world."
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