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PRESS STATEMENT: Anaerobic digestion industry response to Agriculture Bill

Responding to the introduction to Parliament of the government’s Agriculture Bill, Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA), said:

The UK AD industry welcomes the Agriculture Bill’s emphasis on rewarding farmers who provide the greatest environmental benefits, reduce their environmental footprint, and improve soil health.  

 

AD is a vital tool that can support farmers to do exactly this by allowing them to diversify their income, treat their wastes, restore their depleted soils, and generate on-site renewable heat and power.

 

There are currently over 330 on-farm AD plants providing these benefits across the UK, but we estimate that there is the potential for this number to increase at least ten-fold, particularly given that only two out of the 90 million tonnes of farm wastes produced in the UK are currently recycled through AD.

 

 It’s therefore essential for the government to provide, as part of its proposed bill, clear and meaningful incentives for farmers to introduce AD into their farming operations and for the use of digestate-derived biofertiliser, which can restore nutrients and carbon to soil and reduce the need for chemical-derived fertilisers.

Meeting the full potential of on-farm AD in the UK would fulfil around 90% of the Committee on Climate Change’s decarbonisation target for farming for 2030 and could produce 33 TWh of power, more than enough to replace all the high-carbon boilers in rural areas across the UK. 

You can read ADBA's full response to Defra's consultation on the bill here.

 

ENDS

Notes for editors

Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association: www.adbioresources.org
 

ADBA is the trade association for the anaerobic digestion (AD) industry in the UK and companies and organisations working on novel technologies and processes that compliment the anaerobic digestion process and products. With our members we promote the economic and environmental benefits of AD in the UK.

We represent organisations from many sectors including: AD operators, AD developers, AD equipment providers, water companies, farmers, food & drink retailers, waste companies, universities and more.

 

Contact details

Chris Noyce, PR & Parliamentary Affairs Executive, ADBA

T: 020 3176 5441      E: chris.noyce@adbioresources.org

Website: www.adbioresources.org

Twitter: @adbioresources

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