Technology that produces energy from waste either burns food and other waste materials in a combustion facility or employs composting or chemical process to produce biofuels. Energy production from waste is popular in other European countries, but currently the UK only has 50 sites where this occurs.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers has stated that waste to energy technology could provide up to 20 per cent of the electricity requirements of the country.
In a report issued recently by the Institute, it was noted that Britain would have to use waste to produce energy in order to meet its target of having 15 per cent of its energy produced from renewable sources by 2020.
Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s will turn up to 17,000 tonnes of waste annually into biofuel and renewable energy capable of generating 8,500 megawatt hours of electricity. This represents the amount of electricity required to provide power to a community of 12,000 homes for a year.
Philip Simpson, the director of PDM, a waste disposal company, commented that most supermarkets will follow Sainsbury’s lead by the end of this year.
“Food waste has traditionally been viewed as difficult to recycle; however, this is not the case. By using a combination of innovative technologies, along with proven systems such as biomass combustion and anaerobic digestion, we are able to not only to divert food waste from landfill but also use it to create energy – a valuable contribution to the UK’s energy strategy,” Simpson said.
Thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.
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