CIWEM calls for a simplified approach to co-digestion

Spare capacity in water company anaerobic digesters should be available to co-digest solid waste together with sewage sludge and generate ’renewable’ biogas, says the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) in its new Policy Position Statement on co-digestion.

Too often this is hampered by complex regulations governing the recycling to land of the solid output (a useful soil conditioner) and wrangling over how the financial proceeds should be reinvested into the tightly regulated water industry.

CIWEM believes that co-digestion of solid waste with sewage sludge represents the best solution for the environment where headroom water company digester capacity exists, as it makes efficient use of existing infrastructure and expertise. But a conflicting regulatory landscape governing sewage sludge on the one side and biodegradable waste on the other, means it can be difficult or expensive to recycle digestate to the environment beneficially. This is despite Defra and DECC promoting anaerobic digestion (AD) as a method of generating renewable fuel and diverting organic waste from landfill, and Defra stating that it sees the water industry as being central to the expansion of AD.

CIWEM is calling for a range of changes, including revision of the Sludge Use in Agriculture Regulations to reflect the benefits of co-digestion and establish a clear legislative framework for all treated organic residuals; a financial regulatory framework which meets the needs of both the water and waste industries and an update to the Quality Protocol for Anaerobic Digestate (PAS 110) to include provision for the use of sewage sludge as a component of the feedstock.

These issues will be discussed at CIWEM’s forthcoming conference, The Water, Waste & Energy Interface - Realising the Potential of Anaerobic Digestion: Removing the Barriers on 28th June in London.

CIWEM’s Executive Director, Nick Reeves, says:

’Co-digestion of sewage sludge with other biodegradable organic wastes clearly represents a sensible solution, particularly where there is headroom capacity in existing digesters which are treating sewage sludge, but also in other areas where a critical mass of feedstock is required in order to make an AD scheme economically viable. There are a number of obstacles which are by no means insurmountable but which are proving frustratingly slow to resolve. This is all the more frustrating when, clearly, we should be maximising the production of biogas from wastes where we can, and recycling organic material back to land is eminently sensible given the widespread degradation of soils. Whether solutions are regulatory, technical, or a combination of these, we really should move to a situation where it is possible to digest together two waste streams which individually pose no problems’

View the original article here

Prominent UK business group calls for more energy from waste

Launching a new report, Going to waste: Making the case for energy from waste, the leading business group highlighted the important role that energy from waste could play in a broad-based energy mix, which improves energy security.

Technologies include using anaerobic digestion, where biological processes produce bio-gas from waste, and incineration. These provide consistent and reliable power supplies, unaffected by the weather, and are not imported.

With strong leadership from the Government on planning, financing and procurement, the UK could quadruple the proportion of energy it generates from waste from 1.5% to 6% by 2015.

And the CBI warned that unless urgent steps are taken to cut landfill use, the UK will face fines from the European Union of around £182.5m a year.

Neil Bentley, CBI Director of Business Environment, said:

“We cannot continue dumping rubbish in landfill sites. Waste that can’t be recycled could be used to heat homes and produce electricity, as well as improving our energy security.

“Across Europe, generating energy from waste is common and compatible with high levels of recycling.

“The Government needs to encourage the development of more anaerobic digestion and incineration plants, and tackle delays in the planning system.”

The report focuses on the family of energy from waste technologies, which can be broadly divided into biological and thermal types. Anaerobic digestion can be used on-site to produce heat and electricity, or injected into the National Grid after being purified.

Thermal treatments include technologies, such as gasification and pyrolysis, which involve heating waste to produce gas, as well as incineration. The CBI argues that non-recyclable waste should be incinerated, and emphasises that it is cleaner, more efficient, and environmentally sounder than burning fossil fuels or relying on landfill.

Among the CBI’s recommendations for the Government are:

Recognising the important role that energy from waste could play in reducing the UK’s landfill, securing energy supplies and increasing the proportion of renewable sources;Avoiding picking winners from the various energy from waste technologies and allowing the market to decide the most cost effective option;Reassuring the public that delivering more energy from waste is compatible with high levels of recycling and that new plants are clean and safe.

Echoing her support for the report, Gaynor Hartnell, Chief Executive of the UK Renewable Energy Association (REA) said,

“The Government has already said it wants to encourage Energy from Waste, and it would do well to heed the CBI’s recommendations. Most of the energy content of our household waste is renewable, yet often projects are dogged by overly complex and unnecessary regulation, which prevents them from getting the rewards they are entitled to for generating green energy. A healthy dose of pragmatism would be in everyone’s interests and would enable one of the cheapest forms of green energy to play its part in meeting the UK’s renewables target.”

View the original article here