Biogas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced when organic materials decompose in the absence of oxygen in a process known as anaerobic digestion. Specific biogas types are landfill gas, sewage gas and digester gas. The use of biogas ranks among the most environmentally beneficial forms of renewable electricity and heat generation.
Alkane planned to build its first biogas plant in the UK using farm slurry, food processing residues and biomass to produce methane for renewable electricity generation and organic fertiliser for local farms. Due to local opposition it was not possible to acquire a site for the plant and the plans had to be shelved.
Alkane continues to participate in biogas in Germany and elsewhere in Europe where biogas plants have been an accepted part of the landscape for at least 25 years. Through its subsidiary Pro2, Alkane is supplying, servicing and leasing biogas power generation plants using methane produced from the anaerobic digestion of biomass crops such as rye and maize. In Germany, due to the high prices paid under the feed-in tariff for renewable electricity generated from this source, the sector is booming and by 2004 there were around 2,500 plants operating. The German government has a target of 8,000 biogas to electricity plants by 2010 and this support is providing a strong boost to Pro2 profits from sales and services in this rapidly expanding sector.
Alkane hopes that, as a result of the Government's Energy Review and lobbying by the Renewable Energy Association, the success of Pro2 in Europe can be repeated in the UK.
