to read the full report - Ecolateral by Peter Jones

Evaluation of Opportunities for Converting Indigenous UK Wastes to Wastes and Energy
AEA/ED45551/Issue 1
heat and power generator (powered with local biomass) generate enough electricity and heat to
supply the requirements of the village.
• Germany’s first industrial sized biogas plant opened in 2008, on the Klarsee industrial estate in
Penkun, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on the German-Polish border. 262 The site takes silage
and manure (together with maize and other cereals) from local farms and creates slurry to be
processed by 40 independent digesters. The methane produced is converted into electricity, with
the plant capable of producing a 20MW output.
Sweden
Sweden is well known for having created several examples of a biogas network used to power vehicles.
In Linköping a biogas plant was built in 1997, treating 100,000 tonnes p.a. or animal slaughter-house
waste and industrial organic waste and producing 7.7 million m 3 per annum of upgraded biogas. This
biogas is then used to power the city buses plus several light and heavy vehicles, as well as a number of
private vehicles. 263 Sweden is well placed to develop such systems as the country had a considerable
number of gas powered vehicles to begin with (13,500 in 2008, 110 gas filling stations 264 ) , and the gas
distribution network is not that extensive, for example it does not reach Linköping. Another town in
Sweden, Laholm, has been injecting the biogas its AD digester produces into the local natural gas grid
since 2001. The digester accepts 48,000 tonnes p.a. of agricultural manures and industrial organic
waste. 265
A similar project in the UK, undertaken jointly by Sita UK, Gasrec and Boc, announced in June 2008 that
they had produced a biomethane transport fuel from landfill gas at the Sita UK landfill site in Albury,
Surrey. 266 This landfill site produces 2,300m 3 of landfill gas per hour, and the intention is to use this to
produce 5,000 tonnes of biomethane for use by the site operator, by haulage firm Hardstaff Group, by a
Sainsbury’s delivery truck and by a street cleaning vehicle in Camden to give feedback on a range of
uses. The process upgrades the landfill gas by dewatering, then removal of hydrogen sulphide, carbon
dioxide and nitrogen, selectively capturing 85% of the methane processed, at 95% purity. The gas
produced is then liquefied for use. Potentially this fuel could also be used in CHP plants.
9.2 Composting - an alternative to Anaerobic Digestion
Process Description
Composting is the aerobic decomposition by micro-organisms of biodegradable material to produce a
residue - compost. It is a process primarily used for readily degradable organic materials, such as source
separated green garden wastes and kitchen wastes.
The waste is degraded by "heat-loving" micro-organisms. This is a biological process that oxidises the
organic matter to break it down to a more simple form. A high temperature within the process is important
to eliminate pathogens that may be present in the source materials.
The composting operations must ensure that the micro-organisms are kept supplied with moisture,
oxygen, food and nutrients and that conditions such as temperature remain in the optimum range. A
large number of procedures and engineered solutions have been developed to achieve these objectives
for the treatment of organic wastes.
262 Industrial-scale production in world's largest biogas plant, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Germany.
263 100% Biogas for Urban Transport in Linkoping, Sweden, IEA Biogas Network.
264 Renewables target to be extended to at least 35%, ENDS Report 402, pp 38-39.
265 Injection of Biogas into the Natural Gas Grid in Laholm, Sweden, IEA Biogas Network, http://www.ieabiogas.net/Dokumente/casestudies/sucess_laholm.pdf
266 Gasrec, boc and SITA UK announce first fuel production at biomethane project in Albury, Surrey, Site Press Release 2008.
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