The chairman of renewable energy company Ecotricity is investing £10m in the first generation of a biomethane producing technology. Described as "green gas mills", the plants take grass harvested from nearby fields and break it down in an anaerobic digester. The grass is then transformed into biomethane within 45 days and is then injected it into the national network. A report by Ecotricity says there is around 6 million hectares of suitable grassland in the UK, enough to match the amount of gas the National Grid forecasts the country will consume by 2035. But this technology has been available for only two years so far.
The chairman of renewable energy company Ecotricity is investing £10m in the first generation of a biomethane producing technology. Described as "green gas mills", the plants take grass harvested from nearby fields and break it down in an anaerobic digester. The grass is then transformed into biomethane within 45 days and is then injected it into the national network. A report by Ecotricity says there is around 6 million hectares of suitable grassland in the UK, enough to match the amount of gas the National Grid forecasts the country will consume by 2035. However, this would require building as many as 5000 biomethane mills.