Digesting the latest technology

Jan 14 2010 by Karen Dent, The Journal

It is big business on the Continent and the appliance of science to create energy from waste is starting to create ripples across the North East. Karen Dent reports on a £1.85m anaerobic digestion project by Newcastle University.

ANAEROBIC digestion has been causing a bit of a buzz for a while in the world of renewable energy.

The technology, known as AD, which digests waste to create biogas, is now becoming more mainstream in parts of Europe and there are hopes the North East’s scientific expertise can turn it into an important green energy source for the region.

Germany is widely recognised as AD’s leading light and operates more than 3,000 anaerobic digesters, compared with the handful currently working in the UK.

One of the issues associated with AD is the sheer cost of the equipment; the capital costs can range from £1m to £10m, according to Adrian Sherwood, who manages the Rural Development Programme England (RDPE) on behalf of One North East.

The regional development agency has recently sunk £860,000 into a £1.85m AD project at Newcastle University’s Cockle Park Farm near Morpeth.

The digester will convert pig and cattle manure into biogas and will act as a demonstration facility for the region’s farmers. It will also provide training in how to operate the technology for an estimated 200 land-based businesses and more than 50 food companies – food waste is also widely used as AD ‘feedstock’ on the Continent.

Anaerobic Energy Ltd, a spin-out company from the Centre for Process Innovation based at Wilton on Teesside, has teamed up with Newcastle University on the project. Work is due to start this month.

The facility at Cockle Park, which was originally set up as an experimental farm in 1898 and has been operated by Newcastle University since the 1950s, is aiming to put the region at the forefront of spreading AD technology in the UK.

Dr Paul Bilsborrow, a senior lecturer in the university’s school of agriculture, food and rural development, is leading the Cockle Park AD project and has high hopes for the scheme.

“We’re hoping it will be the centre, not just in the North East, but beyond. There is a massive potential to evaluate the system – the inputs, the technology – and see how they can work. Newcastle is a leading university in that area – we also have a lot of engineering schools and science schools,” he says.

Similar research work into renewable energy associated with farming is also taking place at Loughborough University, but One North East’s Adrian Sherwood agrees that this region can be a trend-setter.

“With it being a new technology – anaerobic digestion – there is every possibility that could happen,” he says.

“That one [at Cockle Park] will be the one of the first of its type as a demonstrator. We benefit from the expertise at Newcastle University and farmers can benefit from this knowledge and apply this on a farm scale. I’m hoping it will act as a catalyst for regional farms and pay dividends.

“I don’t think every farm in the region will have an AD facility but I think there are opportunities for bigger farms and opportunities for clusters of farms to work together and make use of the technology.

“AD is a great opportunity. We are keen for it not to be an academic theory – we are keen for practical solutions.”