Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) comments on Spring Budget

The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) has issued the following response, by its chairman Chris Huhne, to the Spring Budget presented today by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt:

“For renewables and net zero, this is a never-never budget of far-off promises that fails to deliver on immediate and available home-grown solutions like green gas and onshore wind.

“Instead, the Government focusses predominantly on nuclear even though no new plants could be built now to have any impact on 2030 targets, even if the sector could deliver on time and on budget. By contrast, new biogas plants can be built in two years cutting emissions and improving energy security.”

Anaerobic digestion is a technology that treats organic wastes such as food waste, manure and sewage to generate

• biogas and biomethane for heating, electricity, and transport;
• biofertilisers for farming and to improve soil health; and
• bioCO2 for use in the food and drink sector.

The biogas currently generated by over 700 plants in the UK equals 42% of the volume of gas produced by the nuclear industry.  Fully deployed, it could reduce the UK’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by 6% by 2030.