ADBA responds to general election manifestos

The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) has passed comment on the energy, climate change and environmental policies outlined in the 2017 general election manifestos of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties.

ADBA chief executive Charlotte Morton was positive about the Conservative party’s continued commitment to the Paris Climate Change Agreement and 2050 carbon targets, as well as the commitment to a diverse market of energy provision. However, she questioned the continued focus on shale gas, and the lack of concrete pledges on food recycling rates.

“We welcome the continued commitment from the Conservatives to meeting our carbon and climate change commitments.” Morton said in a statement. “However, we would have appreciated more detail on how the AD industry will be supported to help the Government meet its pledges to move to a more diverse energy supply in practice, while reducing the amount of food that ends up being incinerated or going to landfill. I am also concerned about the enthusiastic promotion of shale gas in the manifesto – it will be very difficult for us to meet our climate change commitments using shale – green gas from AD is surely better than old-fashioned fossil fuels.”     

Morton also expressed mixed views on the Labour Party Manifesto: “ADBA welcomes the Labour Party’s commitment to boosting our supply of clean, green energy as well as their recognition that support for farmers should encourage sustainable practices. However, we are concerned about their proposed cap on energy bills, as this could have the unintended consequence of limiting investment in the sector.”

As for the Liberal Democrat Manifesto, she lauded the party’s dedication to a Zero-Carbon Britain and recommendation for statuatory waste recycling targets, but questioned the decision to not mention anaerobic digestion specifically.

“The Liberal Democrats have some strong environmental policies in their manifesto. However, it is a shame given their commitment to tackling the problem of waste that they don’t highlight AD’s great potential to prevent these materials going to incineration or landfill.”