Biomethane from cow dung could heat 10 million homes, save thousands of gas jobs and create tens of thousands more, GMB Union has said.
Anaerobic digestion of organic material – agricultural waste and food waste – already provides enough energy in the grid to heat more than 800,000 homes [1], with the number soon rising to 1.2 million [2].
Two villages, Nether and Over Stowey, have been exclusively heated by biomethane for the past ten years. [3]
UK agriculture produces around 82 million tonnes of livestock manure and slurry each year but less that 1 per cent is used specifically for biomethane [4]
Scaling up production, the UK could produce 50TWh of sustainable biomethane by 2030 and 120TWh by 2050 [5] – creating at least 60,000 jobs in the process [6].
Andy Prendergast, GMB National Secretary, said:“It may raise a wry smile, but cow dung really could be crucial to the UK’s clean energy future.
“It’s virtual identical to natural gas so can use existing infrastructure, it’s low carbon and – as any farmer will tell you – it’s only too renewable.
“We could already heat 500 hospitals with the biomethane produce, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“By 2050 it could provide a third of all the gas we need, creating tens of thousands of jobs in the process.
“It’s a no brainer – if Ministers adopt these proposals, they deserve a pat on the head.”
For more information: https://www.gmb.org.uk/
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