BIO Capital Group, the UK’s leading commercial energy from food waste producer, has added a fourth asset to its portfolio in Scotland. The newly acquired Linwood food waste transfer station will significantly improve Bio Capital’s ability to process feedstock for its regional Anaerobic Digestion (AD) facilities. The company provides a treatment service for food waste from its local partners including local councils, food manufacturers and retail chains.
Located in Paisley, Scotland, the Linwood site has been acquired from Keenan (Recycling) Limited and has the licensed capability to process 13,200 tonnes of food waste per annum. The site will divert food waste from landfill and provide a feedstock for Bio Capital’s Barkip and Energen AD sites.
Transfer stations process feedstock, enabling continual supply to the AD sites, which in turn allows for the stable production of biogas which is used to generate renewable electricity for supply to the local grid, or further processed to biomethane which can be directly injected into the local gas grid, decarbonising the grid. Linwood is strategically located 8 miles from Barkip and 27 miles from Energen, making low mileage transfers possible, reducing the cost and emissions of transportation and further improving the efficiency of the AD process.
Bio Capital works with partners such as local authorities, food manufacturers and retail chains to reduce their carbon emissions by diverting their food waste from landfill and transforming it into biogas and electricity.
The Linwood transfer station facility has the capability to divert 13,200 tonnes of food waste from landfill per annum equating to a CO2 saving of 11,554 tonnes. This is the CO2 savings equivalent of taking over 6,800 cars off the roads for a year.
The Barkip and Energen sites produce and supply renewable electricity and gas all year round, providing a consistent and reliable local energy source supplied directly to the national grid. A by-product of AD is biofertiliser and the Barkip and Energen sites combined, produce 170,000 tonnes of biofertiliser for local farms.
Bio Capital’s General Manager George O’Malley said: “This transfer station is an important acquisition to the Bio Capital group, securing local feedstock, and gives us an opportunity to expand our tonnage portfolio. Bio Capital continues to acquire strategic sites and develop working partnerships with key stakeholders, this is yet another exciting move, both for the company, as well as for Scotland and the UK’s net zero ambitions”.
The UK produces around 9.5M tonnes of food waste each year (equivalent to 25M tonnes of the greenhouse gas methane). Bio Capital is actively looking to partner with food producers, local councils and large farms to transform food waste, garden waste and agricultural crop residues into renewable energy.
Biomethane has a vital role to play in the UK’s future energy mix. It is a 100% renewable, low carbon alternative to natural gas or LNG that is bolstering the UK’s energy needs as global energy costs rise and temperatures drop. While it releases some CO2 when burned (still far less than fossil fuels), it is technically carbon-neutral because the harmful methane emissions that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere when the food waste decomposes in landfill are captured and repurposed as an energy source.
As global energy costs continue to rise and unpredictable weather increases – resulting in extreme hot or cold spells – the case for increasing the UK’s biogas capability has never been stronger.
