INDUSTRY leaders have praised Reaseheath College’s efforts to demonstrate the viability of smaller scale, renewable energy production on farms.

Speaking at the commissioning of the college’s demonstration 'anaerobic digestion' plant, Charlotte Morton, chief executive of the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association, said that results from the plant would make a significant contribution to the understanding of both farmers and technologists.

Reaseheath’s bespoke demonstration plant is based on two small scale, low capital systems which can be replicated commercially on farms or in horticultural businesses.

The systems are a Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) digester taking slurry from the 300 head Reaseheath dairy herd plus straw-based manure from the college’s commercial, 130 sow, high welfare, pig unit, and a smaller plug and play digester taking slurry only.

The project is being run in collaboration with local farmers and will particularly assess financial viability and the efficient use of available resources.

The college also plans to measure the effect of freely available feedstocks such as grass clippings, sawdust and horse manure as cost effective enhancers.

Said Charlotte Morton: “This is a fantastic demonstration plant.

"The fact that it is based at an agricultural college which can offer hands-on training means that it is capable of making a big impact on the industry.

“The coalition government has made a commitment to deliver a huge increase in energy from waste through anaerobic digestion.

"To achieve this, we will need to attract a large number of producers and the industry will need to gear up fast.

"This includes receiving training, so it is excellent to see a working demonstration AD plant at an agricultural college.

“Anaerobic digestion can produce about 20% of the UK’s domestic gas demand so it can play a very significant part in renewable energy production.

"It offers a fantastic way of converting farm waste into domestic energy through an entirely natural process."

The £900,000 demonstration plant was part financed by the Rural Development Programme for England and supported by Defra, the North West Regional Development Agency and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas.