Sunday, February 11, 2018

IADAB News - Edition 15 - UK Food Waste Company Take-over Irish WWTW AD Plans and Biogas Buses

Date: 11 February 2018: This is Issue 15 of the IADAB News Weekly, where we summarise the news of the week in the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Industry.

Image shows: Biogas News plus Anaerobic Digestion News
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This week we are featuring 4 UK events in the AD scene in the UK, and one in the US. These are chosen as being the items which have scored most highly based upon the last seven days of social network interaction across Twitter, Facebook, and Linked-In (provided by Kudani).

The first item is the surprise acquisition of Tamar Energy by Biogen, which amounts to a substantial re-alignment of food waste AD capacity in the South of England. It may help reduce the downward trend in gate-fees for Food Waste disposal in the south of the UK, but that will remain to be seen.

Next, in Ireland there is good news for growth in AD, during Irish Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) upgrades. When these are completed, it is proposed that the number of sites with anaerobic digestion will increased by 5.

Next, we have a new US item. the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) issued a request for proposals to procure up to 899,250 MWh/year of renewable energy, and our reading of the request is that AD bids could make up the lion share, if companies put AD plant options in their proposals. There is not much time though with a short deadline for bidders to make their submissions.

Finally, we have two UK items. The first is an ADBA post in which it joins an industry-wide call for the government to issue a long-awaited FIT consultation, so that much needed confidence in continuity of the subsidy scheme can return and allow investment to flow into new projects.

Our fifth and last item is welcome. £40 million will awarded to Councils for low emission buses. Using the money councils will be able to retrofit vehicles with technology to reduce tailpipe emissions of nitrogen dioxide. Retrofitting buses to use biomethane as a vehicle fuel offers a carbon reduction and can help reduce air pollution.

Alright, let’s get started… (Scroll down for each extract and use the links to the full articles on each of the individual websites.)

The following is our intro video. Watch the intro video below, for a taster of what you will read if you scroll down below the video:



1. Biogen Acquires Tamar Energy

Biogen has expanded its food waste recycling network through the acquisition of Tamar Energy, one of the largest anaerobic digestion (AD) owners and operators in the UK. The acquisition was completed by Ancala Partners LLP, the independent mid-market infrastructure investment manager for an undisclosed sum. 

A number of Tamar Energy's existing shareholders have rolled-over their investment into the combined group. The acquisition creates one of the largest independent AD operators in the UK. via anaerobic digestion food waste industry food waste management renewable energy

2. Ambitious Plans for More Wastewater Anaerobic Digestion Plants in Ireland

Maximising energy recovery from sludges through anaerobic digestion is at the heart of Irish Water’s National Wastewater Sludge Management Plan:

“There are 14 wastewater treatment plants in Ireland with anaerobic digestion currently in operation. More than 50 per cent of all wastewater sludge was anaerobically digested in 2014. This is expected to increase to approximately 65 per cent when WWTP upgrades, currently under way, are completed. It is proposed that the number of sites with anaerobic digestion is increased to 19, as the optimum strategy for treatment, with the biogas produced used for energy recovery in all cases.
Advanced anaerobic digestion followed by reuse of the residual bio-solids on land has been evaluated to be the most sustainable solution for wastewater sludge treatment and disposal.” via bridging skills gap

3. Connecticut Issues New RFP For Offshore Wind, Fuel Cell, And Anaerobic Digestion Projects

Last week, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) issued a request for proposals to procure up to 899,250 MWh/year of renewable energy and associated Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from offshore wind, fuel cell, and anaerobic digestion renewable energy resources, pursuant to long-term contracts of up to 20 years. Bidders must submit completed proposals to DEEP by April 2, 2018. Connecticut will announce winning bids in June 2018. via Connecticut Issues New RFP

4. ADBA joins industry-wide call for long-awaited FIT consultation

ADBA has today joined a number of trade associations to write to Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, regarding the long-awaited Feed-in Tariff consultation.

The letter highlights the contribution renewables technologies supported under the FIT make to UK energy and carbon targets. With the FIT scheduled to close to new applicants in March 2019, the letter calls on BEIS to address the uncertainty this cliff-edge end date poses, by working with industry to deliver alternative routes to market.

In support of the letter Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of ADBA, said:

The UK’s anaerobic digestion (AD) industry has already delivered so much, powering over a million homes and reducing the UK’s greenhouse (GHG) gas emissions by 1%, particularly in challenging areas such as agriculture. With the right support, however, it could meet 30% of current household electricity demand, quadruple its contribution to reducing UK GHG emissions, and provide 30,000 rural jobs. While AD is an established technology, the absence of a FIT post March 2019 is a serious threat to the viability of the UK AD industry and its ability to contribute to meeting a wide range of policy goals. We urge BEIS to set out a sustainable future for small-scale, low-carbon energy projects such as AD beyond 2019 to give reassurance to what is such a crucial industry for meeting climate goals in the UK. via ADBA

5. £40 million awarded to Councils for low emission buses


As part of the Clean Bus Technology Fund, which was launched in 2017, the Joint Air Quality Unit has today announced awards totalling £40 million to local authorities across the UK to support efforts to improve air quality in UK towns and cities. Using the money councils will be able to retrofit vehicles with technology to reduce tailpipe emissions of nitrogen dioxide. Although much of the recent in the vehicle sector has come on the OEM side, retrofitting buses to use biomethane as a vehicle fuel offers a carbon reduction and can help reduce air pollution.

Road transport is going to change dramatically over the next couple of decades – and we have to make sure that the bus industry is ready to benefit from those changes.

Above, you can see Nusrat Ghani MP beside one of Nottingham City Transport's biomethane buses.
via £40 million award for buses

We hope you found this week's anaerobic digestion news informative. Watch out for next week's news!

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