Waste gas could provide half UK's heat

The UK could meet half of its home heating energy needs by converting waste into biogas, according to a recent report from the energy company National Grid.

The study says waste-based fuel could provide Britain with a green and reliable source of energy in the face of dwindling gas production in the North Sea.

While the UK currently produces a “small quantity” of biogas from landfills and sewage plants, that fuel goes toward generating electricity, the National Grid said. It added that waste resources could be used more efficiently by by converting them to biomethane that could replace natural gas supplies.

Sewage and other waste can be converted to biomethane either by anaerobic digestion (best for wet waste) or gasification (best for crop waste).

“Biogas has tremendous potential for delivering large scale renewable heat for the UK but it will require Government commitment to a comprehensive waste policy and the right commercial incentives,” said Janine Freeman, head of National Grid’s Sustainable Gas Group. “Biogas has benefits on so many fronts.  It is renewable and could help to meet the target of 15 percent of all our energy coming from renewable sources by 2020.  It provides a solution for what to do with our waste with the decline in landfill capacity and it would help the UK with a secure supply of gas as North Sea sources run down.”

National Grid has provided a copy of its report to Ed Miliband, Minister for Energy and Climate Change.