Following the Government’s decision this week to allow resumption of Cuadrilla to drill for shale gas in Lancashire, the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA) has said biogas should get more priority.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey yesterday allowed Cuadrilla to resume its operations after the drilling for shale gas was suspended last year due to two earthquakes.
A Gas Generation Strategy was launched last week that failed to mention either anaerobic digestion or biogas but put a lot of emphasis on the shale gas drilling technology fracking. As part of this, an Office of Uconventional Gas will be created.
ADBA chief executive Charlotte Morton said: “It is criminal that the debate about unconventional gas risks excludes the best source we have: biogas from anaerobic digestion.
“Upgraded to biomethane it is already replacing fossil gas in the grid, and has the potential to meet 10 per cent of the UK’s domestic gas demand. It is ultra-low carbon and has a range of positive environmental impacts, in the process treating food waste and supporting farming.
“The Government should be putting green gas first, by giving long term policy certainty to investors and developers, and ensuring that policies such as local authority waste collections make as much organic material available for digestion as possible.”
