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132 Evaluation of Opportunities for Converting Indigenous UK Wastes to Wastes and Energy AEA/ED45551/Issue 1 electricity and 1MW of heat. Meanwhile a 75,000 tonnes per annum site has planning permission in Beddington for processing kitchen waste and the organic component of the systems already on the site, generating 2MW of electricity a year. A demonstrator site run by Organic Power in Somerset has been working to convert food, animal and other organic wastes to biomethane through AD for use as a transport fuel for a number of years. The biomethane is converted to CNG (compressed natural gas) with the addition of a small amount of biohydrogen to ensure optimum combustion in CNG vehicles. 244 International Situation One exemplar example of the use of large scale use of AD for MSW is the Brecht II facility in Belgium, which began operation in 2000 with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum. The feedstock for the plant is mainly organics such as garden, kitchen and food waste to which nappies, non-recyclable paper or cardboard can be added. The facility processes the waste from the municipalities around the city of Antwerp. During 2005, 7.4 million m 3 of biogas was produced, used to generate 9.1 GWh of electricity. The plant also produces 20,000 tonnes of compost which meets the Flemish regulations for high quality soil amendment. 9.1.2 Anaerobic Digestion of Commercial Waste Many food producers, including the major supermarket chains, have stated their wish to use waste diversion methods for their food wastes. Although there are only two strictly commercial food waste sites operational at the moment (and one of these is a demonstrator project), it is likely that this number will increase in the very near future, due to the significant rise in interest in this process. The demonstration scale anaerobic digestion facility exists at Waterbeach, Cambridge Research Park, near Cambridge. Trials of commercial waste materials such as agricultural, biodegradable industrial, kitchen and animal by-product wastes are being conducted at the site which can handle up to 17 tonnes of material per day. 245 The Twinwoods Biogen Greenfinch site in Milton Earnest north of Bedford accepts up to 42,000 tonnes of commercial food waste combined with 12,000 tonnes of pig slurry each year and converts it to 1MW of electricity, 1.65MW of heat energy which is largely consumed by the process itself, and 32,000 tonnes of bio-fertiliser. A further commercial food waste site is at Westwood, Bedford, Northamptonshire, to be operated by Biogen Greenfinch. It is due to be operational in 2009 and will be able to process 45,000 tonnes of food waste each year, generating 1.5MW of electricity and 35,000 of biofertiliser. The supermarket company Sainsbury’s recently announced that they were investing in his facility, with the intention that supermarkets close to the site and its nearby distribution centre will use the process. 207 Another potential AD site in Doncaster has been granted permission, this site will process 45,000 tonnes of food waste each year for Prosper De Mulder (PDM), a commercial food waste firm and Sainsbury’s has already expressed a strong interest. It is expected to generate 2MW of electricity. Drinks firm Diageo has announced its plans to construct an AD facility at its Cameronbridge distillery in Fife. 238 244 Organic Power Website, http://www.organic-power.co.uk/press_articles.aspx 245 Waterbeach AD Site, http://www.andigestion.co.uk/content/waterbeach
Evaluation of Opportunities for Converting Indigenous UK Wastes to Wastes and Energy AEA/ED45551/Issue 1 International Situation Identifying sites that use AD to dispose of commercial organic wastes is difficult as many are simply recorded as accepting ‘biowaste’ without further details. Austria cites several AD sites that accept only catering waste, including the Bruck a.d. Leitha site (20,000 tonnes p.a.), the Hagenbrunn site (20,000 tonnes/yr) and the Heiligenkreuz am Vase site (12,000 tonnes p.a.). 246 Bellisimo, an American frozen meal producer is constructing its second 5.25 US million gallon digester at its production facility in rural Ohio, one of the first American companies to invest in this technology. 247 The system’s output will be used within the factory. 9.1.3 Anaerobic Digestion of Biosolids The digestion of biosolids is a special case of anaerobic digestion. Sewage gas is the result of controlled anaerobic digestion (AD) occurring within a sewage handling facility, with 66% of sewage generated already treated by AD in the UK in 220 sludge digesters. 248,249 The process occurs in a well mixed, heated reactor but the reactions take some time due to the relatively low concentration of volatile solids. Sewage gas feed stock is the leftover sludge from the activated sludge process used at sewage treatment plants. Much of the biogas generated from this process is used to supply the needs of the processing plant. Water UK estimate that 60% of the biogas produced is collected and used to generate renewable heat and power by CHP engines, totalling 88MW of electricity. 249 However this represents only 14% of the energy requirements of the industry, as the water processing industry is the UK’s fourth most energy-intensive industry, accounting for approximately 3% of the UK’s electricity consumption. 250 Defra has set the aim for the water companies to supply 20% of their energy needs from renewable sources, such as their in house AD processes, by 2020. 251 As of April 2009 water companies earn the reduced 0.5 ROCs per MWh of energy they generate from biogas. 249 Some water companies are considering the use of food and other wastes as additional feedstocks in response to the enhanced level of incentives given to anaerobic digestion in the reformed renewable obligation. 248 Many water companies have pledged to reduce their carbon footprints and one way of doing this would be through achieving a greater efficiency of harvesting the biogas. For example Anglian Water has committed to increase the proportion of its energy met from biogas and wind power from 2% to 20% by 2010; Southern Water aims to increase renewable generation to 20% by 2020, up from 10% in 2008; Thames Water aims to increase its renewable generation from its current level of 14% to 18% by 2020; and United Utilities intends to increase it in house electricity generation by 8% by 2012. 249 9.1.4 Anaerobic Digestion of Agricultural wastes Anaerobic digestion of animal wastes is an established method of dealing with significant quantities of animal slurries and residues. Controlled anaerobic digestion of such residues, with collection and utilisation of the bio-methane produced is less well established in the UK. The bio methane potential (Bo) of manure and slurry is the methane producing potential of the manure, expressed as cubic meters (m 3 ) of methane per kilogram of Volatile Solids (VS), also referred to as the maximum methane producing capacity for the manure. It varies by animal species and diet. Table 70 246 IEA Biogas, Plant List, http://www.iea-biogas.net/anlagelisten/Plantlist_08.pdf 247 Bellisimo Foods, http://www.bellisiofoods.com/sustainability.html, Turn Food Waste into Energy, Environmental Defence Fund, http://innovation.edf.org/page.cfm?tagid=1339 . 248 Water UK, Water Industry at the hub of anaerobic digestion, 17/02/09, http://www.water.org.uk/home/news/press-releases/ad-vision 249 ENDS Report 404, September 2008, p.30-33, Biogas Scents the Sweet Smell of Success. 250 ENDS Report 401, June 2008, p.32-36, Water Companies call in the Carbon Accountants. 251 Defra (2009) Anaerobic Digestion – shared goals available www.defra.gov.uk 133
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South East 327 - - 55% of MSW by 20
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Appendix 3 MBT Methods Specific in
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Figure 27 Orchid Environmental proc
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