Food Waste Scheme Hailed Success

The Waste & Resource Action Plan (WRAP), has hailed a food waste recycling scheme in which 4,272 tonnes of food waste were diverted from landfill a success. The efforts also averted 1,967 tonnes of CO2.

Nineteen English local authorities experimented with ways of collecting food waste from 94,000 households. In the majority of areas, more than 70% of people agreed to separate their food waste for composting. The average food waste collection was between 0.3 and 2.2 kilos.

"We are delighted by the results of these trials, which show that if consumers are given the right tools and are provided with a good service, they will participate in initiatives to cut waste sent to landfill."
Phillip Ward, Director for Local Government Services, WRAP

The organisers believe that a survey of people in the pilot areas identified a gap between perception and reality.

Of the non-participants interviewed, a common reason for not taking part was that residents felt that they did not produce enough food waste to make it worthwhile.

However, WRAP research in the recent "The Food We Waste" report shows that even households claiming that they generate no food waste at all produce, on average, 2.9kg per week.

Concerns about potential odour, hygiene issues or attracting vermin were the reasons given by 24% of non-participants - but for those who did participate, the majority claimed not to have had a problem with any of these issues.

A highly positive note from this announcement is that these schemes work when implemented, people are willing to carry out the task of waste separation and will do. If similar schemes were implemented across the UK's approximate 21m households, we could see 954 383 tonnes of food diverted from landfill and 439 436 tonnes of CO2 emissions. However even more importantly, by volume, food waste is the largest contributor to methane gas production, and sending this to landfill releases these gases. The EU Landfill Directive and Waste Regulations, like regulations in other countries, encourage diverting organic wastes away from landfill disposal for these reasons.


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Diageo Invests £65m in Renewable Energy

Plans for a pioneering bioenergy facility at Scotland’s largest distillery, Cameronbridge in Fife, were announced by Diageo this week. Following two years of rigorous research, Diageo - which makes leading global brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray and Smirnoff - has signed a formal partnership agreement with energy management company, Dalkia, to create the new facility.

Costing approximately £65 million, the planned state-of-the-art facility will generate major environmental benefits and is set to place Scotland at the forefront of green technology on the world stage.

The facility will for the first time integrate sustainable technologies – including anaerobic digestion and biomass conversion – on a commercial scale. It will be the largest single investment in renewable technology by a non-utility company in the UK and is set to reduce annual CO2 emissions at the site by approximately 56,000 tonnes (equivalent to taking 44,000 family cars off the road).

The proposed facility, which is subject to planning approval, will recover 98% of thermal steam and 80% of electrical power at the distillery. It is an example of Diageo’s commitment to the environment and the use of energy efficiency programmes to reduce energy and water consumption. Dalkia will construct the facility over the next two years and it will then transfer to Diageo under a finance lease, while continuing to be managed by Dalkia.

“This will be a showcase bioenergy facility which harnesses a variety of green technologies in a project of an unprecedented scale. It is without question the right way forward in terms of environmental benefits and secures the long-term sustainability of our operation, moving the site away from reliance on fossil fuels"
Bryan Donaghey, Managing Director, Diageo Scotland.

The bioenergy facility will generate renewable energy from ‘spent wash’ – a mixture of wheat, malted barley, yeast and water - produced during distillation. The spent wash is separated into liquid and dried solids. The liquid is then converted, via anaerobic digestion, into biogas and the dried solids form a biomass fuel source.

Around 90,000 tonnes of co-products, which would have required transport off-site by road, will be turned into bioenergy in the form of electricity and steam for use at the distillery. The facility will also recover almost a third of the site’s water requirements.

"SEPA welcomes the use by industry of efficient, sustainable energy sources. We are very supportive of new and developing technologies that can help protect Scotland's environment and make a meaningful contribution to tackling climate change. Diageo is to be commended for its investment in bioenergy.”
Campbell Gemmell, CEO of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

"This pioneering scheme demonstrates the effective use of bioenergy and highlights our shared commitment to efficient sustainable energy for industry. It will deliver real environmental benefits.”
Frédéric Pelège, CEO of Dalkia plc

The bioenergy project is in addition to a £100 million programme of investment currently being undertaken by Diageo in Scotland. This includes a new distillery at Roseisle in Morayshire which will also feature cutting edge sustainable technology, together with a £40 million expansion at Cameronbridge Distillery due for completion in spring 2010.

Diageo, and partner Dalkia, have been working closely with local and national stakeholders, as well as consulting widely with representatives of the local community, to ensure the full potential of the project is realised.

Cameronbridge currently employs around 100 people and the new bioenergy facility is expected to create up to 20 additional jobs.

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Food Waste to Electricity in Devon

12,000 homes in the Axe valley area of Devon, are recycling their kitchen waste, through weekly collections, the collected material is then used to produce a gas, by mixing them with animal slurry, which is then used to generate electricity for the National Grid. The scheme is part of East Devon Council's aim to recycle 50% of all waste by 2010. Towns taking place in the scheme are Axminster, Beer, Colyton, Musbury, Seaton and Uplyme. Other areas in councils remit will be included in 2009.

The waste is collected on a weekly basis, residents simply place any food waste, with the exception of liquids into special containers provided by the council. It is then taken to a biogas plant at Holsworthy. There through a process of anaerobic digestion, a gas is produced, which is then burned to create electricity.

"The waste food will be mixed with animal slurry. The bacteria in the mixture will then heat itself to 70C and it will go through a digestion process, producing gas."
Paul Deakin, Waste Manager, East Devon District Council

Whilst there is no certainty in the amount of waste that will be collected, the resulting reduction of biodegradable waste going to landfill will not only help the environment, but also reduce the ever increasing landfill fees, however these will most likely be offset through the collection. In the long-term it is likely other council areas will implement similar schemes across the country, as the fees on each tonne of waste landfilled is rising by approximately £8 per year. But one other exciting bit of news released this week is that over one-third of homes in England are composting waste.

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Sexy Green Car Show

The Co-operative Sexy Green Car Show starts tomorrow at the Eden Project in Cornwall. The car show runs from 23 - 31 May 2008. Admission to the car show is included in the normal admission fee to the Eden Project.

Love them or hate them, cars are not going away. But road transport accounts for a fifth of our carbon dioxide emissions in the UK, so it's time to transform the way we buy and use them.

The good news is that in the UK the government's King Review of transport tells us we can reduce road transport CO2 emissions by a massive 80% by 2050 if we start buying the right vehicles now and take our old bangers off the roads. Now, the technology is out there and our Sexy Green Car Show brings it to you.

Traditionally, environmental organisations have not had much to say about cars, except to try and persuade people not to use them. But at Eden, based in rural Cornwall, people are acutely aware of a dependence on cars. For many it's just not practical or affordable to travel another way.

Green cars have suffered a bit of an image problem in the past but now there are all sorts of exciting advances - hybrids, super-light, carbon fibre bodies, developments in aerodynamics, engines and biofuels.

The Sexy Green Car Show is a chance for people to find out about it all first hand.

All the major manufacturers will be flaunting their newest, greenest models, with some even making their first public appearance.

Greener materials and fuels are hitting the market all the time, with many more on the drawing board. Of course no one knows which technology will win the race which is why we've included a wide selection of cars, ranging from concept models experimenting with hydrogen fuel cells (the Morgan LIFE) to family cars so well designed they do over 60 miles per gallon. Look out for the hybrid vehicles, which use petrol at high speeds and then exhaust-free electricity for city driving.

For more information on the Sexy Green Car Show, head over to the Eden Project.

Cookstown Heating their Swimming Pool with Willow

As energy prices continue to rise, the dilemma facing Cookstown Council to keep it's leisure services in full has been greatly affected. Costs for heating their pools at the local leisure centre notched up a fuel bill in excess of £100 000, until they teamed up with five local farmers in a bid not only to keep a vital community facility but also to reduce their CO2 emissions (after ranking 429 out of 434 council areas for CO2 emissions in the Green Barometer III report from the Energy Saving Trust) and of course, energy costs.

The unlikely partnership has seen the five local farmers growing willow, a long grass, which has become known as an energy crop, for its fast growth and reasonably high carbon sequestration rate. Grown locally the crop is then transported to the leisure centre and with the use of a wood-chip burner, used to help heat the swimming pools. The partnership has seen the energy bill at the facility fall by £1 100 per week. Reducing the burden on the Council and those of the 12 000 households in the council area.

Which Came First, the Chicken or the Power Plant?

It may be surprising to know that chicken waste is reused as a source of fuel to generate electricity, with over 75% of chicken litter from major poultry farms in the United Kingdom being reused in this method.

Northern Ireland often exports its chicken litter to mainland Britain as a way to efficiently reduce waste and reuse the energy stored in the bedding as no facility exisits in the country. The 1.8m chickens produced each week, create 250 000t of chicken litter annually. Hence this weeks decision by major chicken producers O'Kane Poultry, Glenfarm Holdings and Moy Park, who have been supplying poultry bedding for use as a biofuel to power stations in England and Scotland for a number of years, to join together as a consortium, known as Rose Energy, to propose the first energy plant which will convert agricultural biomass into electricity in Northern Ireland.

As well as poultry litter, meat an bone meal, commonly known as MBM will also be used as a fuel source. Both of which are inert, non-toxic substances.

The proposed site in Glenavy, near Lisburn, is in an ideal location between the two major poultry processing areas in NI. It is also located next to Ulster Farm By-Products, which will be a major supplier to the plant of one of the fuel sources – meat and bone meal. Furthermore, the plant will serve to reinforce the electricity infrastructure in an area which is currently deficient.

The £100m power plant will have a capacity of 30MW, and could effectively power 25 000 homes, assisting up to a third of the Northern Ireland obligation to source 6.3% of its energy from renewable sources by 2012. The government intends to exceed this figure and achieve 12% and is providing a funding package for suitable green energy initiatives to help develop viable projects.

This development is a viable solution to address the disposal of agricultural biomass, which is now included under an EU directive, whilst also providing an additional source of renewable energy. It will also assist in reducing emissions produced from exporting chicken litter, via road and sea,to mainland Britain.

"This is an exciting project for Northern Ireland, using proven technology to deliver huge benefits to the province on two key fronts - improving the environment and generating renewable energy. The plant will provide an opportunity to use two valuable biomass fuel sources locally, which have for several years been used as fuel for similar plants in GB. Rose Energy represents a huge financial commitment, the majority of which is being privately funded. The relevant government departments are aware of our proposals and have indicated their support in principle. We are working closely with them to secure the remaining funding required to realise this project."
Mike Alcorn, Director, Rose Energy

Depending on the success of their planning application, the new facility should be operational by 2010.

NB: Generic Picture

Picture: Sony Bio Battery

The 50 mW bio battery by Sony is powerful enough to charge a MP3 player and speakers. The bio battery casing is made of a vegetable-based plastic. It measures 3.9 cm (1.5 inch) along each edge and works by pouring sugar solution into the unit, where enzymes break it down to generate electricity. The company said it aims to produce the batteries for commercial use, without specifying when.