UK anaerobic digestion trade body reacts to the Climate Change Committee’s latest progress report

UK anaerobic digestion trade body reacts to the Climate Change Committee’s latest progress report

The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) has reacted with disappointment to the publication of the UK’s Climate Change Committee’s latest progress report to Parliament,

ADBA is alarmed by the UK Government’s continued lack of leadership and commitment to anaerobic digestion (AD), an industry that could reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by 6% by 2030, support the UK in meeting its Global Methane Pledge, and create tens of thousands of green jobs.

Chris Huhne, Chairman of ADBA and former Energy and Climate Secretary, said: “Ministers are just coasting into the election. There is no urgency, and we have lost any sense of experimenting with new policies and ideas to tackle the climate crisis. The UK is no longer a climate leader, and the case of green biogas is just another good example where both the USA and the EU are passing us in the fast lane.”

The Green Gas Support Scheme (GGSS) currently provides financial support for new AD plants injecting biomethane, but it will close in November 2025. ADBA agrees with the CCC recommendation that the government must develop a post-scheme strategy to support biomethane generation and its injection into the natural gas network, and that carbon capture, usage and storage should also be supported to facilitate its production.

Fully deployed, the AD sector could produce enough biomethane to power 18 million households by 2030 while supplying 100% of the country’s commercial CO₂ demand. The CCC also states that the government must drive action to help the AD sector reach this potential, starting with the launch of the Biomass Strategy and the immediate publication of the outcome of the Consistency in Household and Business Recycling in England consultation.