Great news that the National Grid is getting squarely behind biogas generation – and has told the Government so.
Putting our food and other waste into energy production seems such good common sense. There are farms with anaerobic digesters on them now, as well as the big industrial-scale plants that can take huge volumes of waste. From this process comes nothing but useful bi-product, including safe fertilisers and gas that can go into the grid.
We’re big fans of this at OF&G, particularly since we got a closer look while carrying out a recent project to help WRAP and REA develop an inspection regime for the certification of AD installations.
And it’s great news also that the supermarkets and big brand names are taking this seriously too. Many of them have made commitments to reduce waste and packaging and AD can, and no doubt will, play a big part in this. Marks & Spencer has been somewhat more than dabbling in getting part of its energy from biogas and now Sainsbury’s is taking big strides in this direction* with a project involving 28 of its stores in Scotland.
This one’s going to run. The fact that many farms can afford AD units, and that the technology is improving all the time, means we should only see it spread. We’d advise everyone to keep an eye out for new business opportunities that also come with excellent green credentials!
* A good time to say ‘hello’ to the newly announced English version of the Italian greenplanet.net website!
ad, anaerobic digestion, biogas, Certification
Some depressing news reported by the Theatre of Inconveniences blog about Kenya taking rapid steps towards a genetically modified farming future. Quite how they think this will be of benefit to the country is anyone’s guess, but the arguments are pretty well fleshed out in the blog posting, which I’d recommend you read.
Just stumbled across this piece about electric bikes becoming available to hire in the beautiful Stretton Hills (just down the road from our base in Shrewsbury).
Seems like a very civilised way to get around a beauty spot. More civilised certainly than the noisy combustion engine.
Of course electric vehicles still need fossil fuels to be burnt at the power station, but these machines apparently assist the pedaller, rather than doing all the work, so that’s something. It’d be great to see more people whizzing around such areas on two quiet wheels. They also get the benefit of breathing in the air, rather than the contents of the air con unit!
A piece in Farmers Guardian quotes a Monsanto spokesman’s belief that GM crops will be coming to the UK soon. While it’s hard to be sure what the government is plotting as a result of well-funded lobbying, this does smack of wishful thinking or a strategy of making it sound like a fait-accompli in the hope that it will become one…
A worrying piece from the Independent newspaper suggests that serious moves are underway in Europe to force genetically modified foods onto our plates. It’s quite incredible that politicians are so insistent on this when there is overwhelming evidence that people don’t want it. They are suspicious of GM and more and more information is emerging that if there are any benefits they are negligible and may be outweighed by the damage that is being done (see our previous posts on suicides among Indian farmers and the backlash by US consumers!).
Already farmers and food manufacturers are beginning to struggle to source raw materials that can be guaranteed GM free because this stuff contaminates everything, from container ships, to the lorries it is moved in. Of course this is no doubt what the biotech companies relish, because once GM is ubiquitous there’s no going back. How we might come to regret that!
Funny how things come full circle. The use of wind power for ships could be making a comeback if the maiden voyage of a new cargo vessel goes well.
The Beluga Skysails is setting off across the Atlantic with a giant high-tech kite attached. The theory, which seems eminently sound, is that the kite can be deployed to harness the stable winds high up and pull the ship along – saving on the amount of power needed by the engines and therefore cutting emissions.
The kite is computer controlled and can run on rails around the ship to ensure optimum use of the wind.
You can’t help but feel that this has a lot in common with organic farming; using what we’ve got in nature for everyone’s benefit while cutting back on the artificial and harmful. Fingers crossed for a successful voyage and wide deployment of the Skysail…
Find out more at the Skysails site
or
Read the story from The Times
