Julia Safiullina, Investment Manager for Iona Capital, has revealed the massive potential for biomass energy in the UK: “There were around 25 anaerobic digestion plants in the UK when we started in 2011, whereas Germany had around 8000. There now around 500 in the UK, 17 of those are ours, and this level of development growth will only continue.”

Anaerobic digestion has the potential to deal with the issue of the large amount of biowaste in the UK, and whilst the process itself is not carbon neutral, as Safiullina admitted, it actually reduces carbon whilst generating power, as waste that degrades at landfill itself releases more carbon. [emaillocker id=”71749″]

Safiullina predicted a continued increase in adoption of the technology in the UK and referred to the Scottish plans to ban biodegradable waste from landfill by 2021. Despite this, Safiullina advocated for better waste management to ensure climate goals: “We need to learn how to recycle better, this is where Government needs to come in with incentives.”

Paul Brown, Director of Viridor praised the overall improvement in waste management: “The waste sector has delivered one is the greatest drops in greenhouse gasses, having reduced its output from 70m tonnes of C02 at its peak in 1995 to just 20m in 2017.”

Viridor have “over 300 recycling systems of various descriptions”, according to Brown.

Peel Environmental are developing the first low-carbon industrial cluster in the UK, the Energy Innovation District near Warrington. Myles Kitcher, Managing Director of the firm said that if the country is to meet its decarbonisation targets then “you can’t just support one cluster, you have to support clusters across the UK.”

Peel Environmental have a major carbon capture and storage (CCS) plant which Kitcher described as the “the cheapest CCS project in the UK.”

The firm are also developing the UK’s first plastic to hydrogen plant, an £11m JV with firm Waste2Tricity. Kitcher explained how this plays its part in the carbon reduction agenda: “This technology takes plastic to hydrogen, it’s not a solution because it’s not carbon neutral but it does have environmental benefits.”

Furthermore, hydrogen provides the possibility of “decarbonising heat” due to it being able to avoid the emissions of natural gas usage.

Vital Energi also share the ambition to decarbonise heat, and they’re looking to work directly with clients to develop solutions. Group Strategy Director, Nick Gosling described how the firm takes a dual approach: “We do own and operate our own ESCOs, but we do help clients with their own ESCO opportunities.”

One way the firm has succeeded in doing this is through the production of what Gosling described as “underground heat distribution networks that takes heat to customers.”

The business has recently been awarded a contract by Leeds City Council to produce a district heating network for their emerging South Bank regeneration.

Another area where Vital Energi see as a relatively untapped source of alternative energy is that of waste heat. At the £250m Queen’s Quay regeneration in Glasgow the firm have been using the River Clyde as a source of heat energy.

There are still difficulties with making the technology widespread, as Gosling explained: “The big challenge we face is the economic opportunity of district heat networks vs fossil fuels which are still very cheap.”

Ultimately, government funding of the infrastructure will be vital in mainstreaming its usage.

Hive Energy are a major producer of solar energy, but it is one area in the renewable sector that has faced a set-back, as managing director, Hugh Brennan explained: “We’ve been in the subsidy free world for the past 3 years.”

The firm is developing its first solar plant following the removal of subsidies, which has created new challenges as Brennan put it “banks don’t like uncertainty.”

New and exciting forms of energy are emerging across the country, and while it is tempting to view one as a likely solution to the nation’s climate woes what is most likely, is that as Gosling described as “a blend of all these technologies

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