Sewage could be heating UK homes, report

2 February 2009

Up to half of all UK households could see their gas heating replaced with biogas, according to a new report by National Grid.

The report assesses how biodegradable waste streams such as sewage, food and wood could be turned into biogas and injected into the gas distribution system.

At present, a small percentage of biogas is produced but it is solely used to generate electricity. However, National Grid states that waste resources could be put to more effective use and biomethane could produce gas, helping the country meet its 2020 renewable energy targets.

Janine Freeman, had of National Grid’s sustainable gas group, said, ‘Biogas has tremendous potential for delivering large scale renewable heat for the UK but it will require Government commitment to a comprehensive waste policy and the right commercial incentives.

‘It is renewable and could help to meet the target of 15 per cent of all our energy coming from renewable sources by 2020. It provides a solution for what to do with our waste with the decline in landfill capacity and it would help the UK with a secure supply of gas as North Sea sources run down.’

Biogas is produced either through anaerobic digestion which turns wet waste into biomethane and gasification which is made for drier wastes and energy crops.

The report says that biogas would cost the same as other renewable energy sources and will benefit from already having an extensive gas grid in place. The only challenge biogas faces is adopting the right commercial incentives.

Copyright © 2009 newnet

Tags: biogas, renewable energy, waste

This story was published on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Europe, biomass/biofuel, energy efficiency, policy. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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