In February 2009 Anaerobic Digestion – Shared Goals was launched within the UK. The objective being that by 2020 anaerobic digestion will be an established technology in this country, making a significant and measurable contribution to our climate change and wider environmental objectives. Anaerobic digestion and its products will be used in a way that is both beneficial to the environment and cost effective for the location.
The Environmental Transformation Fund was launched in 2008 to focus on low carbon energy and energy efficient technologies. The fund is delivered by DECC in the UK through WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme). Shaftesbury based BV Dairy is one of five companies taking part in this scheme and will recycle their production waste into a viable energy source through the process of ‘Anaerobic Digestion’.
BV Dairy has been selected to take part in this programme, designed to help the UK deliver an increase in the generation of renewable energy, a reduction in the waste sent to landfill and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
BV Dairy will showcase an innovative method of waste re-utilisation to the rest of the UK Dairy Industry, something that could potentially lead to a massive reduction in the combined carbon footprint representing an annual saving of some 346,000 tonnes of CO2.
The project was officially launched on June 8th and over the following 12 months BV Dairy will be actively developing an Anaerobic Digestion facility at its Wincombe Lane site in Shaftesbury. There has been widespread support from the local community for this initiative and construction commenced in November, with a target completion of August 2010.
BV Dairy have an ongoing commitment to managing their environmental impact and investing in Anaerobic Digestion technology will significantly contribute to this goal. Not only will this substantially reduce carbon emissions, but also the Dairy’s reliance on external energy resources will be greatly reduced.
Within the anaerobic digestion system, the unavoidable waste liquids from the dairy will be converted into biogas, which is then collected and converted into electricity and heat using a CHP (Combined Heat & Power) unit. The electricity generated will be used to power the existing dairy operations, and the heat will be used for heating, cleaning & washdown operations, thereby reducing the need for fossil fuels. In addition, small amounts of de-watered digestate will be produced which will be used as a soil conditioner and fertiliser.
Senior Management at BV Dairy are delighted to have been selected as a showcase site to demonstrate the role anaerobic digestion can play within the food manufacturing process. The project has been led by Jim Highnam Managing Director and Alan McInnes, Technical Director.
Commenting on the proposal Jim Highnam said, “This is a fantastic opportunity, not just for BV Dairy, but for the whole UK dairy industry, to be at the leading edge of renewable energy technology. We need to release the energy value of these unavoidable liquid wastes.
“We will fully grasp the opportunity that this project presents, and we hope that this will be the start of a major shift towards renewable energy production from anaerobic digestion of food wastes.”
Alan McInnes explained, “the project has so many benefits because it will generate energy and reduce waste disposal costs, and at the same time it will have a major impact on the company’s carbon footprint – in fact, the projected carbon footprint reduction is quite staggering.”
They will be assisted at all stages of the project from design planning and construction to commissioning and monitoring by Clearfleau who are experts on high rate anaerobic systems for the on-site treatment of liquid bio-waste.
www.wrap.org.uk/etf
www.defra.gov.uk
www.biogas-info.co.uk
www.decc.gov.uk
