50,000 TPA Food Waste to Biogas Facility Approved in Bristol
New Earth's Avonmouth MBT facility 05 July 2012 New Earth Solutions, a Dorset, UK based organic waste treatment and renewable energy specialist, has been awarded planning permission for a biogas facility that will treat food waste with Anaerobic Digestion (AD) technology at its Willow Farm site in Avonmouth, Bristol. The company said that the planned 50,000 tonnes per annum plant will treat food waste that has been separately collected from households and businesses. New Earth already held an existing planning permission at Willow Farm for the treatment of green and food waste using in-vessel composting. However, the organic waste specialist said that as separate food waste collections become more popular, it has decided to reconfigure the facility for AD. According to the company the new facility planned at the Willow site will generate up to 3 MW of electricity - enough to meet the needs of more than 5000 homes in the Bristol area - as well as heat which will be reused in the AD process to increase efficiency. Once commissioned in autumn 2013, New Earth said that the AD plant will complement its existing facilities in the region. The company's Avonmouth residual waste treatment facility, opened in April 2011, with an adjacent energy recovery plant currently under construction, is just down the road. New Earth claimed that the Willow plant will be the first of its kind in the Bristol area designed specifically to treat separately collected food waste. The company has contracts with Bristol City Council, Bath and North East Somerset Council, Cardiff Council and Newport Council to treat this type of waste. Read More Bristol Recycling & Energy Facility Secures £20 Million New Earth Solutions, Group Limited has completed a refinancing of its 200,000 tonnes per annum Avonmouth waste treatment facility on the outskirts of Bristol. UK AD & Biogas Industry Could Grow 800% if Government Acts With the EU Renewable Energy Directive's deadline looming, biogas from Anaerobic Digestion could generate in excess of 11 TWh of energy by 2020 according to a recent report by independent think tank, CentreForum. Ten Best Waste Projects in KPMG Top 100 Infrastructure List The Edinburgh Food Waste food waste project has been named as one of 10 best waste projects globally in the KPMG Infrastructure 100 league table, which also included a number of waste to energy and biogas projects. Free Magazine Subscription Free Email Newsletter