The AD industry has the potential to be worth £2-3 billion to the UK economy each year based on current gas prices, delivering more than 10% of the UK’s domestic gas requirements and creating 35,000 UK jobs, largely in manufacturing and engineering. Supporting renewable technologies to combat climate change will reduce the negative impact of spikes in global oil, gas and coal prices on the UK by over 50% by 2050.

AD could provide 40 TWh of biogas – equivalent to the energy needed to power all of the homes in London nearly three times over – which would help to deliver energy security by reducing our dependence on imported oil, and minimising the risk of interruptions to supplies from the electricity and gas grids.  With approximately 20% of the UK’s existing generating capacity set to close in the next decade, energy security is a major concern.

AD produces a flexible, renewable gas which can be scaled up quickly and easily and used to produce electricity and heat or, upgraded to biomethane, injected into the gas grid or used as a transport fuel. Unlike other renewables, biogas is constantly generated and can be stored in the grid, providing baseload energy and helping to mitigate the intermittency of other renewables.

Compared to other renewables, AD also comes up favourably in terms of energy generation at an affordable cost. Already the UK AD industry is producing four times more electricity than solar panels, with our food waste alone capable of creating enough energy to power over 2,000,000 homes – over THIRTY times more than solar PV currently manages. And delivering on this potential would cost less than if this electricity was generated through offshore wind, for example.

Integrating AD into the transport sector through the use of biomethane vehicles will lead to three key benefits:

1. Fuel cost savings – biomethane is around 20% cheaper than diesel, so when used by large commercial fleets can achieve significant costs savings. The widespread use of biomethane vehicles will help make UK businesses more competitive than their European rivals, providing a further boost to the UK economy. But to develop the sector further, investment in infrastructure such as gas refuelling stations is needed, as well as more effective support under the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO).
2. Emissions savings – the UK transport sector accounts for 27% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions, with HGVs on their own accounting for 3% of the UK’s total emissions; indeed, total emissions from HGVs have not shown any significant reduction since 1990. There are relatively few other viable options for decarbonising the transport sector, and trials of biomethane vehicles have been proven to reduce GHG emissions by 50%. Upgrading biogas to biomethane for use in trucks and HGVs has also been recognised by the Carbon Trust as the best use of biogas for reducing emissions.
3. Air quality – Biomethane vehicles can make a significant contribution to improving air quality, particularly in areas which are struggling to meet their European air quality targets.  With the European Commission recently rejecting plans to delay air quality improvements in the UK and the government potentially facing fines of up to £300million, finding a solution is urgent. Biomethane vehicles produce 90% less particulate-matter emissions (PM₁₀s) and 60–85% less nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions compared with typical diesel fuel vehicles, so the use of biomethane vehicles in HGVs, council refuse collection vehicles and buses represents a huge opportunity to improve air quality in cities where this is a serious issue.

With the UK committed to cutting GHG emissions by 80% by 2050, AD can play a vital role in cutting those emissions in several sectors:

1. Landfill – with methane emissions from landfill currently accounting for 3% of the UK’s total GHG emissions, the use of organic waste in AD plants can have a huge impact on preventing emissions and putting that potential energy to good use.
2. Farming – agricultural businesses contributed 7.7% of UK’s GHG emissions in 2008, through powering on-site operations and use of synthetic fertilisers (which alone account for over 1.1% of the UK’s total GHG emissions). AD can produce energy as well as stable, virtuous-cycle biofertilisers for use on all farms. AD can also support food production. [Jump to SUPPORT CLIMATE SMART FARMING]
3. Gas and electricity supply – AD can generate electricity at the excellently low rate of 11g CO₂/KWh compared to the current grid average of over 500gCO₂/KWh. At present around half the UK’s GHG emissions result from heat use, with the majority of heat use coming from gas use, with the greatest proportion of this being from domestic gas use. Upgrading biogas to biomethane to be injected into the gas grid removes the need for fossil-fuel sources and can play a leading role in decarbonising the gas grid. It has been calculated that a mature AD industry would be capable of meeting over 10% of domestic gas demand.
4. Transport – Using biomethane as vehicle fuel cuts transport sector emissions, which currently account for 27% of the UK’s total GHG emissions. Trucks or HGVs which run on biomethane have achieved 50% GHG savings compared to their diesel equivalent.

AD is critical to the future of UK farming, making farming operations more profitable and sustainable. AD allows farmers to generate their own renewable energy for on-site operations, improve soil quality and crop yields by integrating purpose grown crops as a break crop, and manage slurries more effectively, while the use of digestate reduces the need for damaging synthetic fertilisers, all of which are essential issues in food security in the UK. Visit our farming page for more information.