Friends of biogas, for those interested in and promoting biogas in the UK
Wow! Seven Members in Just One Week Since this Group was formed! What Next?
I am amazed and excited about the number of members who have joined since my first blog a week ago.
Thank you all for your interest and goodwill. It is most appreciated.
Please, please use the "invite more" link (top right) to email your friends as well.
Now it would be good if those of us who would like this to be an active platform or promoting biogas information and public awareness would respond with their ideas, by adding them to this discussion.
Immediately, we have the great asset of being able to write joint statements as statements by the "UK Friends of Biogass". We have a unique voice and a clearly defined sphere of interest from our title.
My suggestions of things we can do together to start a campaign and raise our membeship, are:-
1. Use the Anaerobic Digestion Blog to (300+ subscribers and the Wastersblog also 300+) to publicise our existence and create joint outputs through members agreeing to join together to work on AD promotional projects.
2. Issue responses to public consultations, and suggest and promote ideas for improvements in public policy toward AD. (With fuel prices rising so fast there is a wonderful opportunity for this group to suggest addtional ways in which the UK government could quite easily further encourage Anaerobic Digestion uptake. I am sure that the media would for example be pleased to lead on a joint article about UK versus German and/or Swedish grants for AD Projects. For, example I believe that UK ROCs are good (and due to get better), but nevetheless, AD developers in the UK do not have the same price security as German industry where the electricity price is gauranteed by the electricity grid company for the first few few years. This reduction of risk in the event the oil prices were to drop again must be of great benefit to our German AD neighbours. Furthermore, the cost to the tax payer of such a measure is surely minimal, so I fail to see why UK govenment could not undertake to equal German AD incentives?
3. Join together to form groups to produce policy documents which will concentrate on specific areas of concern to AD operators, and aspiring operators. My initial list would be very "waste AD" oriented because that is my background, but on top of my list would be:-
a) Going beyond PAS110 (assuming it is passed pretty much as created prior to consultation), to develop sub-PAS110 type markets for AD "products" which will remain categorised as waste to see whether these can be removed from the waste regime . The UK Defra definition of what comprises a waste after processing still badly needs refining and changing after PAS110 is (hopefully) ratified.
b) Developing good practise with regard to odour control. Are fully covered and negative pressure extracton systems going to be the norm for most AD plants? How is it best to counter complaints about odour when in reality 95% of complaints are due to nearby farming practices, but the local AD operator gets the blame! Can lists be compiled of feedstocks producing odour problems versus those less likely to do so?
c) What are the best low-technology AD systems. Many have been in use as human soil systems for probably centuries, in many countries, notably China. Are they really any simpler than AD lagooning? There is a need for authoritative UK guidance on this as quickly as possible because very many potential agricultural AD installers would like to try this sort of installation for low cost and robustness in operation, but nobody seems to know the limits of what might be achieved with "low tech" AD.
I look forward to receiving your open Social Network replies, full of suggestions here on this Forum.
It is, and awlays will be, completely free on Ning!!
Meanwhile, please if you possibly can, do complete your profiles and upload an image to let us see a face, company logo, or even a thumbnail image of your AD Plant! We don't care!
Thank you all for your interest and goodwill. It is most appreciated.
Please, please use the "invite more" link (top right) to email your friends as well.
Now it would be good if those of us who would like this to be an active platform or promoting biogas information and public awareness would respond with their ideas, by adding them to this discussion.
Immediately, we have the great asset of being able to write joint statements as statements by the "UK Friends of Biogass". We have a unique voice and a clearly defined sphere of interest from our title.
My suggestions of things we can do together to start a campaign and raise our membeship, are:-
1. Use the Anaerobic Digestion Blog to (300+ subscribers and the Wastersblog also 300+) to publicise our existence and create joint outputs through members agreeing to join together to work on AD promotional projects.
2. Issue responses to public consultations, and suggest and promote ideas for improvements in public policy toward AD. (With fuel prices rising so fast there is a wonderful opportunity for this group to suggest addtional ways in which the UK government could quite easily further encourage Anaerobic Digestion uptake. I am sure that the media would for example be pleased to lead on a joint article about UK versus German and/or Swedish grants for AD Projects. For, example I believe that UK ROCs are good (and due to get better), but nevetheless, AD developers in the UK do not have the same price security as German industry where the electricity price is gauranteed by the electricity grid company for the first few few years. This reduction of risk in the event the oil prices were to drop again must be of great benefit to our German AD neighbours. Furthermore, the cost to the tax payer of such a measure is surely minimal, so I fail to see why UK govenment could not undertake to equal German AD incentives?
3. Join together to form groups to produce policy documents which will concentrate on specific areas of concern to AD operators, and aspiring operators. My initial list would be very "waste AD" oriented because that is my background, but on top of my list would be:-
a) Going beyond PAS110 (assuming it is passed pretty much as created prior to consultation), to develop sub-PAS110 type markets for AD "products" which will remain categorised as waste to see whether these can be removed from the waste regime . The UK Defra definition of what comprises a waste after processing still badly needs refining and changing after PAS110 is (hopefully) ratified.
b) Developing good practise with regard to odour control. Are fully covered and negative pressure extracton systems going to be the norm for most AD plants? How is it best to counter complaints about odour when in reality 95% of complaints are due to nearby farming practices, but the local AD operator gets the blame! Can lists be compiled of feedstocks producing odour problems versus those less likely to do so?
c) What are the best low-technology AD systems. Many have been in use as human soil systems for probably centuries, in many countries, notably China. Are they really any simpler than AD lagooning? There is a need for authoritative UK guidance on this as quickly as possible because very many potential agricultural AD installers would like to try this sort of installation for low cost and robustness in operation, but nobody seems to know the limits of what might be achieved with "low tech" AD.
I look forward to receiving your open Social Network replies, full of suggestions here on this Forum.
It is, and awlays will be, completely free on Ning!!
Meanwhile, please if you possibly can, do complete your profiles and upload an image to let us see a face, company logo, or even a thumbnail image of your AD Plant! We don't care!
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