ADBA welcomes boost to on farm AD market

ADBA PRESS RELEASE

Defra today confirmed the details of the WRAP On Farm AD Fund. Farmers interested in building an anaerobic digester below 250 kW will be able to apply for a grant of up to £10,000 to create a business plan, and a loan of up to £400,000, or 50% of the project costs, to help fund the building of the plant.

Welcoming the support this will provide to farm based AD,Charlotte Morton, ADBA, chief executive said:

As the Ecosystem Markets Task Force highlighted, on farm AD provides a myriad of benefits beyond the energy generated, in terms of reducing emissions, managing manures and slurries, soil enhancement and the recycling of essential nutrients.

 

This support for the development of the UK farm-based AD market is therefore a welcome step. It dovetails well with ADBA’s free Farmer’s Consultancy Service, which supports farmers in assessing project feasibility and helps them to raise the finance needed. The value of on farm AD will also be a key issue in the high-level panel debate on the importance of nutrient recycling on farms at our National Conference in December.

This announcement follows the government’s response to the Ecosystem Markets Task Force (EMTF) report, which recognised the value of AD on farm and made several recommendations to support growth in this area, including improving farmer’s access to finance and research into possible uses of and markets for digestate.

The importance of a thriving on farm AD market will be the theme for the main discussion of the ADBA National Conference 2013 (London, 3 Dec), which will ask: ‘Can we afford not to recycle nutrients and organic matter?’. More information – including the full conference programme – is available here.