About BiogenGreenfinch
BiogenGreenfinch takes what everyone throws away - waste from the UK food chain - and uses it as fuel to make renewable energy.
Our ’closed loop’ system recycles food waste into green energy and a rich bio-fertiliser that enables more environmentally sustainable food production.
Our process is a unique farm-based application of an established eco-technology called Anaerobic Digestion (AD) which uses bacteria in a sealed chamber to break down the food waste and produce a methane-rich biogas and a nutrient-rich bio-fertiliser.
The process is widely recognised by the government and others (DEFRA, WRAP, Friends of the Earth et al) as one of the best methods for the sustainable management of food waste. When compared to other methods, our sealed, energy-producing solution has the best available impact in reducing greenhouse gases and carbon emissions.
We like to describe it as a Win-Win-Win solution for waste disposal, farming and the environment.
Win for waste
It is an exemplary green solution for the disposal of food chain waste in a sealed process, which reduces pollution. BiogenGreenfinch has developed strong partnership agreements in the public sector (including Mid Bedfordshire District Council and Ealing Council) and private sector (Waitrose and Sainsburys) We are working with many more companies to explore how best to help them hit their waste reduction and recycling targets through anaerobic digestion.
Win for farming
It produces a highly stable, nutrient-rich, liquid bio-fertiliser that is applied back to farm and delivers significant environmental and financial cost savings.
Win for the environment
It converts the waste into renewable energy and helps to reduce greenhouse gases and carbon emissions. This is sold directly to the National Grid.
The Biofuels Debate
It is important to note that the technology used by BiogenGreenfinch is quite different to the crop-related biofuels that are currently the subject of intense controversy in the environmental community. Anaerobic Digestion is unequivocally supported by environmental groups and industry alike, with the electricity produced by this process and supplied to the National Grid receiving a double ‘ROC’ (Renewables Obligation Certificate). WRAP have declared AD to be ‘top of the waste hierarchy’. Clearly, when negotiating the dual minefield that is waste management and renewable energy, BiogenGreenfinch represents the future.
The Technology
BiogenGreenfinch plans a national network of integrated anaerobic digestion (AD) plants, modified to individual circumstances, to be rolled out in partnership with farmers, landowners and food waste producers. The first of our ‘second generation’ AD plants came on stream in spring 2009 at Westwood, Northamptonshire.
BiogenGreenfinch is working within an innovative and fast changing industry and will ensure it keeps abreast of and utilises the latest technology developments as they occur.
Ongoing research and development (R&D) concentrates on the improvement of plant, equipment and processes to continually increase the efficiency of the whole operation. This R&D includes developing our own dedicated laboratory facilities to analyse, for example, the specific characteristics of different types of food waste and how they interact in the digestion process.’
