UK biogas plants could use 5.5 million tonnes of feedstock by 2013

The number of biogas plants that are either operational or scheduled for development across the UK will need an estimated 5.5 million tonnes of feedstock by the end of 2013, according to a study from Enagri.

The study concludes that approximately 150 biogas plants powered by farm effluents could be online in the UK by 2013. It also predicts a significant increase in the number of plants installed at water treatment facilities, utilising sewage gas for the generation of renewable energy.

Entitled 'The Directory of UK Biogas Plants 2011', the study looks at all the anaerobic digestion (AD) plants planned for the UK. It is due to be released later this year at Cereals 2011.

5% of feedstock used in biogas digesters comprises purpose-grown energy crops. Plants located in Dorset and the south west of the UK predominantly use animal waste, including slurry, manure and waste from poultry. In urban areas within the northwest and southeast of the UK, municipal solid waste is in demand.

Kent is expected to reuse the largest volume of waste products. The number of planned projects in the region could see it handling an estimated 750,000 tonnes a year.

'The geographical differences in feedstock are interesting,' says Richard Crowhurst, managing editor at Enargi. 'They show that, on the whole, developers are looking to build plants which utilise the most abundant feedstock in the region, with some of the biggest municipal waste fuelled plants.'