US Politics | Britain’s farmers reveal hopes to solve energy crisis with manure
BRITAIN'S farmers reckon they can solve the country's energy crisis \- by powering a quarter of our homes with MANURE. The UK's biggest dairy cooperative, Arla, has issued a call to action for the government to tap into a major unused source of energy from farms and the wider food supply chain. Britain's farmers reckon they can solve the country's energy crisis by powering a quarter of our homes with manure Nearly 91 million tonnes of manure could be turned into 8billion cubic metres of biomethane Figures show that, with support, nearly 91 million tonnes of manure and slurry and 10 million tonnes of food waste could be turned into 8billion cubic metres of biomethane. This would be enough to heat 6.4 million homes or run around 3.8 million of the UK's buses and heavy goods vehicles. But at the moment, Britain is currently only using a quarter of the 170 million tonnes of organic waste produced in this country each year. James Pirie, vice president of UK logistics for Arla, said: "At a time when energy security is a major concern for the government, businesses, and households across the UK, we're clear about the opportunity presented by waste from farming and the wider food industry. "We've shown that poo power is a viable and reliable source of power, so we're calling for the Government to support British farmers and the waste and energy sectors with their plans for investment in infrastructure. "With the prospect of an unsettled imported energy supply and costs rising significantly for farmers, businesses and families, it would be an incredible waste for the government not to support this opportunity and invest in a robust, more environmentally-friendly approach to home-grown energy." With 2,100 dairy farmers in the UK, the cooperative's farmers' cows produce millions of tonnes of slurry (poo) each year and when coupled with food that would otherwise have gone to waste Arla alone has the potential to turn tonnes of waste into valuable, reliable and sustainable fuel. Increasing the number of trucks being powered by Biogas will result in a reduction in vehicle emissions of 80 per cent and using the digestate coming out of the anaerobic digestion process instead of fertiliser on crops reduces on-farm emissions by a further seven per cent. 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And the digestate by-product of the anaerobic digestion process is a natural fertiliser that will be used on farms, and which is more stable and less likely to impact on air or water quality. Arla farmer, Ian Barker, said: "Since signing up for the original poo power trial I've been an advocate of using our farms' natural resources to create energy. 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Three key asks for politicians To enable British farmers to access AD plants and tap into the full potential of poo power (and other organic waste), Arla has three key asks of politicians. • They want them to work with industry and local communities to develop a holistic and nationwide strategy for anaerobic digestion. This will support its use on a centralised, community-based, and on-farm level and promote the use of slurry and manure as a renewable energy source. • It should ensure the new ELMS (Environmental Land Management Scheme) regime provides financial support for the use of digestate as a biofertilizer, recognising that it is safe and more environmentally friendly. • And finally, they want to extend the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, which supports the use of biogases in transport, beyond 2032.
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