Background | ADBA National Conference 2023

AD – the imperative for resource resilience

A General Election is looming and, frighteningly, the calls for Not Zero are growing louder, even as the world reels from the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change. While Net Zero is legislated for, legislation can be reversed.

The argument goes that “we can’t afford net zero because of the cost-of-living crisis, and the cost-of-living crisis arises out of disruption to supply chains for gas, grain and fertiliser caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”.

If climate change is left unabated, the impacts on the global supply chains will be far, far greater in magnitude. Business understands this, raising the alarm about the economic cost of inaction against climate change. “We need to put the economy on a new footing”, they say, “one that is resource-led, to secure climate, energy and food security”.

In a geopolitically unstable world, this is the only game in town. The US and EU have recently turbo-charged their responses to the threat of climate change. The war in Ukraine might have been the trigger but underlying this shift is a recognition that nations must in future develop the technologies needed to maximise the resources at their disposal. It makes no sense to continue like this.

AD is central to both programmes, reflecting the technology’s unrivalled role in resource recovery from the everyday waste created across the food chain from farm to fork and into the bin – sewage, manures, crop residues, and food processing waste.

If these readily-available organic wastes were treated through AD, they would deliver climate, energy and food security through the production of renewable gas, renewable fertiliser and renewable bioCO₂. It would cut our carbon emissions by 6%, deliver 20% of the UK’s commitment to meet the Global Methane Pledge and align with Net Zero targets set by the energy networks, wastewater treatment and agricultural sectors.

It would also allow UK Plc to gain first mover advantage in the rapidly evolving markets for carbon capture and future green fuels, such as green hydrogen, rDME, syngas and SAF.

The ADBA National Conference 2023 will seek to shed light on the road ahead to give our industry the necessary confidence to plan for the future. We have called on ministers and shadow ministers to outline their green deals, in light of COP28 where the results of a global carbon stock-take will have been revealed. It will present frameworks to raise debt and equity and consider the best models to aggregate and optimise the country’s organic wastes. It will consider best use, best practices and best tech to get us there. And it will consider external pressures such as carbon pricing and trading schemes that threaten our businesses with additional cost burdens if we don’t transition to green energy.

We hope you can join us. Last year’s ADBA National Conference sold out so please book early to avoid disappointment. 

See the programme and book your tickets now at www.adbioresources.org/national-conference