Interest in Anaerobic Digestion (AD) as a means of producing renewable energy from waste – usually methane, which can either be burnt to generate electricity or put directly in to the grid as gas – has increased.
This is exemplified locally by the new AD plant which has been set up by local cheese producers, Wyke Farms near Bruton. This has represented a huge investment in both time and money. The facility has cost £4m and has taken five years to plan and construct. It consists of three 4,600 cubic metre digester vessels which digest cow slurry, pig slurry, rape straw and “whey permeate” from the cheese making facility. The German technology is capable of converting 75,000 tonnes of biodegradable waste each year.
Richard Clothier, who is the managing director and third generation family member at Wyke Farms, said: “We aim to operate our business in a way that has minimal impact on the Somerset environment, and create a truly symbiotic relationship with the countryside.
“We’re committed to energy efficiency and we’re proud to be one of the first national food brands to be self-sufficient.
“Sustainability and environmental issues are increasing in importance to each and every consumer in the UK and green energy makes both emotional and practical sense.”
Mr Clothier said the plant “simply creates a cycle - we can now take the cow waste, which has inherently been a problem, and turn it into pure, clean, energy to drive all our own needs and more. This, in turn, leaves a natural fertiliser that we can plough back into the land to invest in the future health and wellbeing of our cattle – and so the cycle starts again.”
Clearly the Clothier family believe in the importance of sustainability and have realised that this is becoming of increasing importance to us all, hence their major investment, however not all farmers have been prepared or are able to take this “leap of faith”.
The potential for the use of on-farm AD has been recognised for some years but in general it is only a few large plants which have been set up. As a consequence DEFRA has recently announced it has established an “On-Farm AD Fund” to reduce financial barriers to the development of small scale on-farm anaerobic digesters in England. The Fund is to be administered by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) which itself was established as an independent not-for-profit company limited by guarantee in 2000.
It is believed the fund will provide:
• Grants of up to £10,000 to prepare business plans and feasibility studies for AD units.
• Loans of up to £400,000 (or a maximum of 50% of the cost) for constructing an AD unit.
To qualify for access to the fund it is believed various conditions will be applied which include:
• The farm must “have access to manures and slurries” – but it is not clear to what extent these will have to be used in the AD plant.<br />
• The maximum size of the AD unit will be 250kW.
• A business plan must have been prepared before a loan can be applied for.
• Loans will be available from early 2014, although no exact date has been given.
• No details about the term of the loan or interest rates has yet been released.
At this stage it is not clear how much money will be available or how useful this fund may be but if anyone should have any initial enquires they should contact local Renewable Energy expert Thomas Ireland via email.
This is exemplified locally by the new AD plant which has been set up by local cheese producers, Wyke Farms near Bruton. This has represented a huge investment in both time and money. The facility has cost £4m and has taken five years to plan and construct. It consists of three 4,600 cubic metre digester vessels which digest cow slurry, pig slurry, rape straw and “whey permeate” from the cheese making facility. The German technology is capable of converting 75,000 tonnes of biodegradable waste each year.
Richard Clothier, who is the managing director and third generation family member at Wyke Farms, said: “We aim to operate our business in a way that has minimal impact on the Somerset environment, and create a truly symbiotic relationship with the countryside.
“We’re committed to energy efficiency and we’re proud to be one of the first national food brands to be self-sufficient.
“Sustainability and environmental issues are increasing in importance to each and every consumer in the UK and green energy makes both emotional and practical sense.”
Mr Clothier said the plant “simply creates a cycle - we can now take the cow waste, which has inherently been a problem, and turn it into pure, clean, energy to drive all our own needs and more. This, in turn, leaves a natural fertiliser that we can plough back into the land to invest in the future health and wellbeing of our cattle – and so the cycle starts again.”
Clearly the Clothier family believe in the importance of sustainability and have realised that this is becoming of increasing importance to us all, hence their major investment, however not all farmers have been prepared or are able to take this “leap of faith”.
The potential for the use of on-farm AD has been recognised for some years but in general it is only a few large plants which have been set up. As a consequence DEFRA has recently announced it has established an “On-Farm AD Fund” to reduce financial barriers to the development of small scale on-farm anaerobic digesters in England. The Fund is to be administered by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) which itself was established as an independent not-for-profit company limited by guarantee in 2000.
It is believed the fund will provide:
• Grants of up to £10,000 to prepare business plans and feasibility studies for AD units.
• Loans of up to £400,000 (or a maximum of 50% of the cost) for constructing an AD unit.
To qualify for access to the fund it is believed various conditions will be applied which include:
• The farm must “have access to manures and slurries” – but it is not clear to what extent these will have to be used in the AD plant.<br />
• The maximum size of the AD unit will be 250kW.
• A business plan must have been prepared before a loan can be applied for.
• Loans will be available from early 2014, although no exact date has been given.
• No details about the term of the loan or interest rates has yet been released.
At this stage it is not clear how much money will be available or how useful this fund may be but if anyone should have any initial enquires they should contact local Renewable Energy expert Thomas Ireland via email.
James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk
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