Energy from food plants get government funding

Five projects that will create energy from organic waste received approval for £10m worth of government funding yesterday.

The plants will use anaerobic digestion, which breaks down organic matter to produce biogas – a renewable energy source – as well as keeping organic waste out of landfill, which cuts greenhouse gas emissions.

Environment secretary Hilary Benn said he hoped the projects would show other British businesses the benefits and possibilities of anaerobic digestion.

"We need to rethink the way we deal with waste – we must see it as a resource, not a problem," he said.

"This new technology will provide a source of renewable energy, while reducing methane emissions from agriculture and landfill by diverting organic waste, especially food waste, from landfill."

The UK produces 100 million tonnes of food and other organic waste every year that could be used to create enough heat and energy to run over two million homes.

The successful applicants for funding from the Anaerobic Digestion Demonstration Programme are: Biocycle South Shropshire, Blackmore Vale Dairies, GWE Biogas Ltd, Staples Vegetables and United Utilities.

All projects will be built between now and the end of March 2011. A spokesman for the department of the environment food and rural affairs said the precise breakdown of the funding had not been decided yet.

Liz Goodwin, chief executive officer of the Waste and Resources Action Programme, said the projects will be used to show how cutting-edge technology can work in practice.

"Between them, they demonstrate how anaerobic digestion can help the UK meet the challenges of reducing carbon emissions, increasing renewable energy generation and improving sustainable food production," she said.