ADBA welcomes NESO biomethane report and calls for urgent government ambition

ADBA welcomes NESO biomethane report and calls for urgent government ambition

The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) has welcomed NESO’s report Exploring the Role of Biomethane in the Energy System to 2050, which concludes that biomethane “could deliver significant value across the energy system”.

NESO finds that around 30 TWh a year is achievable by 2050 before any feedstock trade-offs arise, five times current output, and that “there is substantial scope for continued growth”, with analysis identifying 108 TWh of feedstock potential (page 22).

Its modelling shows that “using biomethane in power generation can reduce the costs of the future power system”, and that biomethane may be “the most practical or economic long-term route to reducing emissions” for dispersed industrial sites outside the clusters – which account for around half of GB’s hard-to-electrify gas demand.

Echoing calls from ADBA and those across the sector, NESO warns that without a timely successor to the Green Gas Support Scheme, “growth in the sector is likely to stall”.

Chris Huhne, Chair of ADBA, said:

“NESO has settled the argument. The feedstock is there, the costs stand comparison, and biomethane lowers the cost of the power system rather than adding to it. Thirty terawatt hours is a floor, not a ceiling.

“What is missing is government ambition. The GGSS budget is exhausted and France and Germany each injected more than twice our volumes last year. Ministers should set a production ambition, bring grid-injected biomethane into the UK ETS, and publish their plans for a successor scheme.”

-ENDS-

For further information, contact:

Cameron Ball, External Affairs Lead, ADBA
e: cameron.ball@adbioresources.org; tel: +44 7964 663710

Notes to editors

About ADBA

The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) is the industry association for the UK anaerobic digestion (AD) and biogas industry. ADBA’s vision is to see the full potential of the UK green gas industry realised so it can help the UK achieve its emissions targets and other policy goals, creating a truly circular economy. www.adbioresources.org

About the AD industry 

• There are currently over 750 AD plants operational across the UK
• The entire industry digests approximately 36 million tonnes of organic material each year – organic material that would otherwise emit greenhouse gases including highly potent methane, if left untreated in landfill.
• An estimated 21TWh of biogas is produced each year by the AD industry – this green gas is either used to generate electricity and heat via a combined heat and power (CHP) unit or upgraded to biomethane and injected directly into the national gas grid.
• The industry currently delivers savings of 1% off the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions every year.
• An estimated 4,800 people are currently employed in the AD and biogas industry in the UK.
• Overall, the industry grew by 5 per cent last year as the closure of older, smaller plants was outweighed by big-scale units feeding into the gas grid.
• Fully deployed, by 2050, the UK AD and biogas industry is expected to:
  • produce over 100TWh of biomethane
  • provide between 20% and 50% of UK gas demand
  • create 60,000 jobs (30,000 direct and 30,000 indirect).
  • save the UK 27 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent – equivalent to taking 1/3rd of all cars off the road
  • heat 6.8 million UK homes with the 8 billion m3 of biomethane generated

How AD works

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the natural breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen in a container called a digester. The process extracts the energy this material contains in the form of biogas leaving the remaining organic matter called digestate – a stable, nutrient-rich substance used as a biofertiliser which restores soil health. Organic wastes typically treated through AD include food waste, animal manures and slurries, other agri-wastes, food & drink processing wastes, sewage sludge.