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CCC trip to Uptown Oil and PwC’s green headquarters

July 25, 2011 in Agriculture, Bioenergy Review, CCC, Energy efficiency, biofuel, mitigation by Committee on Climate Change

by Ellie Pierce, CCC Secretariat

On July 18th, seven of us working on the upcoming CCC Bioenergy Report took a trip to Southwark to have a look at the work of Uptown Oil, a business that produces biodiesel from used cooking oil. The trip was a chance to see how biodiesel can be produced and used sustainably, at a local level. The refinery began producing biodiesel in 2007 – but was recently put in the spotlight after signing a contract to supply Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) with biodiesel and featuring on the BBC TV Programme, Megacities.

Uptown Oil visit

CCC Bioenergy Review team visit Uptown Oil

Uptown Oil collects used vegetable oil from about a thousand sources in London – including Young’s pubs, Selfridges and Hackney Borough Council. This is then processed on site into biodiesel and sold. The oil that is produced at Uptown Oil is rated at B100 – which means it is 100% biofuel. Jason Askey-Wood, our host, informed us that they have the capacity to produce about 50,000 litres per week. By-products (of which there are few) are passed on for re-use: for example the glycerol can be used to make soaps. This limits any waste.

Diesel cars can be run on biodiesel without requiring an engine update and much of the biodiesel produced at Uptown Oil is sold to London cab drivers. While we were there, we saw lots of cabs having their tanks filled. There is currently a price incentive for them to do so as biodiesel sourced from used cooking oil is cheaper than diesel  due to a 20 pence per litre duty differential. Jason fears that the removal of this differential, which is due to occur in 2012, will seriously damage its competitiveness as a road transport fuel.

According to Uptown Oil, CO2 emissions from biodiesel are about 80% lower than from normal diesel, and the exhaust releases about 60% less particulates, helping create cleaner air in the capital.  Jason argues that given these environmental benefits, such enterprises should be encouraged by the government.

It is not only transport fuel that Jason and his team supply, they recently secured a contract to provide biodiesel to PwC’s headquarters in central London. The office has been awarded an Outstanding BREEAM rating for its environmental design so we headed over to 7 More London to take a look. We were shown around by Jon Barnes, the Head of Building and Facilities Services at PwC, who told us that thousands of litres of biodiesel are delivered from Uptown Oil per week, 15% of which is recycled from the office’s own used oil. The biodiesel is used to generate 25% the total energy used, via a tri-generation system, and provides heating and cooling around the building. Looking around, we got a good insight of how biofuels can be used in practice in such a large building.

The CCC’s Bioenergy review is to be released at the end of 2011.

CCC visit Rothamsted Research Centre for Bioenergy and Climate Change

June 16, 2011 in Agriculture, Bioenergy Review, CCC, Climate Change Act, Kat White, Uncategorized by Committee on Climate Change

Kat White, Eric Ling, Ute Collier, Neil Golborne, Indra Thillainathan Rothamstead Research Centre

Kat White, Eric Ling, Ute Collier, Neil Golborne, Indra Thillainathan Rothamstead Research Centre

By Kat White, Senior Analyst working on the CCC Bioenergy Review

In our current bioenergy review we are considering questions around sustainability and best use of bioenergy. Given our strong interest, five members of the CCC’s Bioenergy Review team visited the Rothamsted Research Centre for Bioenergy and Climate Change – the UK’s largest agricultural research centre and home to the national willow collection (begun after the First World War) and the BBSRC  Sustainable Bioenergy Centre’s Perennial Bioenergy Crops Programme.

The BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre provides the underpinning research to help develop economically, socially and environmentally sustainable second generation (i.e. derived from non-food crops) biofuels which have a positive impact on climate change and energy security.

Despite the rain (a welcome drink for the crops) we were taken on a tour of the centre’s trial sites for second generation bioenergy crops –short rotation coppice willow, miscanthus and switchgrass. We were shown the results of the ongoing programmes that look at the effect on crop yields of applying nitrogen fertiliser and of varying soil quality and type.

Willow (background) Miscanthus (foreground)

Willow (background) Miscanthus (foreground)

The aim of the Perennial Bioenergy Crops Programme is to support the development of sustainable biofuels by optimising biomass feedstocks from perennial biomass crops whilst maximising energy savings and minimising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The two crops being studied at Rothamsted and its sister site in Aberystwyth are willow and miscanthus (see photo).

Following the tour, we spent two hours discussing the wide range of research undertaken by the centre’s teams of scientists; in particular soil carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas measurement and monitoring (part of the Defra-sponsored Agriculture UK Greenhouse Gas Platform), and the potential for growing sustainable bioenergy crops both internationally  and in the UK.

The CCC’s bioenergy review will be published in late 2011.

CCC trip to Dairy Farm Anaerobic Digestion plant in West Sussex

August 24, 2010 in Agriculture, Kavita Srinivasan, Progress Reports, Uncategorized by Committee on Climate Change

Kavita Srinivasan is a Senior Analyst at the CCC, looking at how Agricultural emissions reductions should form part of the Governments wider strategy for meeting carbon budgets. Here Kavita tells us about an Anaerobic digestion plant installed on a farm…

Crouchlands farm August 2010

CCC team visit Anaerobic digestion plant at Crouchlands Farm

Members of the CCC Secretariat last week visited Crouchlands Farm, a 750 cattle dairy farm located in West Sussex, to tour the farm’s newly installed 1 MW anaerobic digestion (AD) plant and to discuss GHG emissions reduction from agricultural activities with representatives of the National Farmers Union (NFU).

Faced with increased Nitrate Vulnerable Zone restrictions, which would require installation of expensive manure storage facilities, farmer (and NFU Vice President) Gwyn Jones opted to invest in a £2 million AD plant which converts agricultural waste into renewable energy.

The plant consists of two digester towers, which are fed on a combination of slurry collected from the dairy farm as well as maize (produced at a local arable farm on poorer quality land) and grass silage, which together form an optimal feedstock mix.

The feedstocks are mixed in the towers on a 90-day cycle, producing a biogas which is then converted into electrical energy, which is sold directly into the national electricity grid.
At completion of the digestion process, a nutrient-rich digestate is produced from the waste products which is then separated into solids and liquids. The solid digestate is spread back to cropland (used to grow maize) and the liquid slurry to pasture land, providing a nutrient recycling system and saving the farm in fertiliser costs.

As a renewable energy generator, the plant will earn returns from the ROC scheme as well as tariffs received from selling the electricity generated. Gwyn anticipates a payback for his investment in 4 to 5 years.

The CCC’s 2010 progress report to Parliament identified cost-effective opportunities to reduce methane emissions arising from livestock manures by increased installation of on-farm and centralised anaerobic digestion plants (approximately 0.6 MtCO2e in savings). At present methane emissions arising from manures account for 3 MtCO2e, or 6% of total agricultural GHG emissions.

The CCC report also noted that achieving greater uptake of abatement measures in the agriculture sector will require new approaches to address current barriers. Gwyn and NFU colleagues noted a number of potential barriers faced by farmers interested in installing AD systems, ranging from planning and compliance processes to accessing financing for smaller scale plants.

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5 key recommendations from our 2nd Progress Report

July 2, 2010 in Agriculture, Climate Change Act, Electricity market reform, Energy efficiency, Government Policy, Low-carbon economy, Progress Reports, Renewable heat, Transport, renewable energy by Committee on Climate Change

  1. Electricity market reform to provide stronger incentives for investment in low-carbon power generation. Government is right to consider setting a minimum price on carbon, and should consider an Emissions Performance Standard for new gas generation added after 2020.
  2. A national energy efficiency programme, addressing both financial and non-financial barriers, involving a whole house/ whole street approach whereby homeowners are assisted with insulating their houses, in addition to the proposed Pay as you Save scheme.
  3. Currently committed funding of £260 million to support electric car market development will be required to cover extra purchase costs and investment in a battery charging network, and should be protected. Government should set ambitious targets for electric cars on the road by 2020 (e.g. Committee’s analysis suggests 1.7 million cars is feasible and desirable).
  4. The framework for renewable heat should be finalised given the need for early investment, and significantly increased renewable heat penetration by 2020 (e.g. from 1% currently to 12% in 2020).
  5. New policies are required to drive down emissions in the agricultural sector. These should include measures to improve the efficiency of the methods by which fertilisers are applied to soils and livestock are fed and could result in significant emissions cuts.

Committee members at the launch of the 2nd Progress Report - 30 June 2010