Attleborough will be one of the first towns in the UK to be supplied with green gas from an anaerobic digestion plant. This new development plant will be based in Norfolk and will cost around £17m and is part of the project led by Privilege Finance.
Attleborough town is based in Norfolk and is between Thetford and Norwich. Therefore, the Anaerobic digestion plant will be based on the Suffolk-Norfolk border.
What is Anaerobic Digestion?
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is when organic matter such as food wastes, wastewater, animal manure, and others are broken down by various bacteria or microorganisms to produce biogas. This whole process happens in a reactor that can be made into different sizes based on the extent or amount of organic matter that needs to be processed. The anaerobic digestion process creates two types of outputs: biogas and digestate.
According to the UNECE(United Nations Economic Commission For Europe), methane’s biogas is 28-34 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. WRAP, an NGO and charity established in early 2000, said that just the food waste alone generated by businesses and households in the UK is around 2.85 tonnes.
According to WRAP, this large amount of food waste generates more than 7 tonnes of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
The project in Norfolk will be able to collect over 100 thousand tonnes of food waste. This food waste will be collected from the local households and businesses in the area and used as organic waste to create green gas for use in Attleborough homes. This green gas will be able to supply close to 4000 homes in the area.
This anaerobic digestion plant in Norfolk will have four digestion tanks, a repackaging unit, a food waste reception hall and a gas upgrader. This plant will produce more than 1000 cubic meters of green gas per hour. The construction of the anaerobic digestion plant will be completed in March 2022.
Marc Graham, project development manager at Privilege Finance (pictured below) said the following:
- As a result, Attleborough town will reduce its carbon footprint.
- This project will be set apart because the pipes with the green gas will be piped directly into homes and businesses, generating food waste.
- The local businesses and homes will be able to trace the gas production back to renewable energy generating sources.
- The business and homes will not notice any difference between their homes’ normal day-to-day heating and business and cooking.
- The new plant in Attleborough will show how greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by recycling food waste.
- All of the food waste in Norfolk will be collected and processed in Norfolk. This would help reduce additional carbon emissions if they were transported elsewhere for processing.
