Adnams’ brewing waste supplies biogas to grid
Adnams’ brewing waste is now used to produce biogas that feeds back into the national grid.
The brewery, based in Suffolk, uses the left over methane from its malted barley to generate a biogas using the process of anaerobic digestion. With the new technology, the brewing company hopes to provide an environmental fuel for its lorry fleet as well as supply natural gas back to the grid.
The plant will also utilise local food waste, including the scraps from seven local supermarkets. According to the brewery, waste from just 600 pints of beer can generate enough gas supply for one home per day.
Adnams Bio Energy is running the project in a partnership with British Gas. The organising body said that it hoped to achieve enough production capacity to be able to power the entire brewery and its fleet of lorries. Furthermore, it added that additional waste can be used as fertiliser by the farmers that grow the barley for Adnams beer.
The scheme marks the first time that food waste has been used to produce green gas to be fed back into the grid. The announcement comes only days after Thames Water, also partnered with British Gas, announced its biogas production using sewage water. Thames Water’s biogas will also supply the grid.
Climate Change Minister Greg Barker stated that renewable energy has had an excellent week in terms of progress. He added that Adnams Bio Energy was setting a great example for how the community can come together to combat climate change.
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