Biogen (UK) Ltd is a leading UK owner and operator of anaerobic digestion and composting plants based in Bedfordshire. It is responsible for the construction of 22 plants to date and currently operates Nineteen anaerobic digestion plants (12 Food Waste and 7 Agricultural Plants) in England, Scotland and Wales.
Biogen's anaerobic digestion business was established in 2005 with investment from Bedfordia Group. The company's Twinwoods anaerobic digestion (AD) plant, at Milton Ernest in Bedfordshire was completed in 2006 [1] to recycle food waste along with animal slurry from Bedfordia Farms. In 2008 Biogen acquired technology and engineering company Greenfinch Ltd. [2] Greenfinch was set up in 1993, initially constructing AD plants for the waste water industry and for farmers as a form of managing their livestock waste. In 2012 Biogen secured £24m of investment from construction, property and services company Kier Group, [3] making them joint venture partners alongside Bedfordia Group.
Since 2006 Biogen's main focus has been on providing a sustainable food waste treatment service for local authorities, retailers, pubs, restaurants, hotels, offices and food manufacturers. The company employs over 150 people across the UK and has its head office in Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire. In April 2017 the company was bought for an undisclosed sum by Ancala Bioenergy Ltd, an infrastructure investment vehicle managed by Ancala Partners LLP, to provide an established platform for Ancala to expand into the waste-to-energy sector. [4]
Biogen's AD plants recycle 550,000 tonnes of organic waste each year and can generate 25MW of green electricity for the national grid. [5] The anaerobic digestion process also produces is a liquid rich in nitrogen, potash, phosphate and other trace elements that can be stored on site until spreading time and returned to the land as a nutrient rich biofertiliser to grow more crops, completing a closed loop system.
Biogen's plants are located in Bedfordshire, Bromley, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, [6] Essex, Lincolnshire, North Somerset [7] Northamptonshire, [8] Nottinghamshire, Sussex, Warwickshire, [9] Denbighshire, [10] Caernarfon [11] Rhondda Cynon Taf [12] and Midlothian [13]
Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic organisms or methanogens inside an anaerobic digester, biodigester or a bioreactor. The gas composition is primarily methane and carbon dioxide and may have small amounts of hydrogen sulfide, moisture and siloxanes. The methane can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel; it can be used in fuel cells and for heating purpose, such as in cooking. It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas into electricity and heat.
Alternative technology is a term used to refer to technologies that are more environmentally friendly than the functionally equivalent technologies dominant in current practice. The term was coined by Peter Harper, one of the founders of the Centre for Alternative Technology, North Wales, in Undercurrents (magazine) in the 1970s. Alternative Technologies are created to be safer, cleaner, and overall more efficient. The goals of alternative technology are to decrease demand for critical elements by ensuring a secure supply of technology that is environmentally friendly, increased efficiency with lower costs, and with more common materials to avoid potential future materials crises. Alternative technologies use renewable energy sources such as solar power and wind energy. Some alternative technologies have in the past or may in the future become widely adopted, after which they might no longer be considered "alternative." For example, the use of wind turbines to produce electricity.
Anaerobic digestion is a sequence of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste or to produce fuels. Much of the fermentation used industrially to produce food and drink products, as well as home fermentation, uses anaerobic digestion.
Bioenergy is a type of renewable energy that is derived from plants and animal waste. The biomass that is used as input materials consists of recently living organisms, mainly plants. Thus, fossil fuels are not regarded as biomass under this definition. Types of biomass commonly used for bioenergy include wood, food crops such as corn, energy crops and waste from forests, yards, or farms.
Renewi plc is a leading European waste management company operating primarily in the Benelux region. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Amsterdam and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Renewable natural gas (RNG), also known as biomethane, is a renewable fuel and biogas which has been upgraded to a quality similar to fossil natural gas and has a methane concentration of 90% or greater. By removing CO2 and other impurities from biogas, and increasing the concentration of methane to a level similar to fossil natural gas, it becomes possible to distribute RNG via existing gas pipeline infrastructure. RNG can be used in existing appliances, including vehicles with natural gas burning engines (natural gas vehicles).
A mechanical biological treatment (MBT) system is a type of waste processing facility that combines a sorting facility with a form of biological treatment such as composting or anaerobic digestion. MBT plants are designed to process mixed household waste as well as commercial and industrial wastes.
Biodegradable waste includes any organic matter in waste which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane, compost, humus, and simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by composting, aerobic digestion, anaerobic digestion or similar processes. It mainly includes kitchen waste, ash, soil, dung and other plant matter. In waste management, it also includes some inorganic materials which can be decomposed by bacteria. Such materials include gypsum and its products such as plasterboard and other simple sulfates which can be decomposed by sulfate reducing bacteria to yield hydrogen sulfide in anaerobic land-fill conditions.
Food waste in the United Kingdom is a subject of environmental, and socioeconomic concern that has received widespread media coverage and been met with varying responses from government. Since 1915, food waste has been identified as a considerable problem and has been the subject of ongoing media attention, intensifying with the launch of the "Love Food, Hate Waste" campaign in 2007. Food waste has been discussed in newspaper articles, news reports and television programmes, which have increased awareness of it as a public issue. To tackle waste issues, encompassing food waste, the government-funded "Waste & Resources Action Programme" (WRAP) was created in 2000.
Blue Marble Biomaterials, founded in 2007, is a US-based company which utilizes hybridized bacteria to produce specialty biochemicals and renewable biogas. The company develops and generates these biochemicals using non-virgin cellulose as biomass.
The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation (Technology) (2006) was awarded on 21 April 2006, by Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade (Export) (2005) was awarded on 21 April 2005, by Queen Elizabeth II.
The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology, previously known as Renewable Energy Association (REA), is a renewable energy and clean technology trade association in the UK encompassing all of renewables industry in the United Kingdom. REA covers renewable power & flexibility, heat and cooling, circular bioresources and transport. The REA is a not-for-profit company.
NNFCC is a consultancy company specialising in bioenergy, biofuels and bio-based products.
Iona Capital Ltd is a fund management institution that specializes in the management of equity and debt investments for private and institutional clients. Its investment strategy focuses on seeking out promising start-up companies that align with the UK Government's goal of reducing waste sent to landfills. In addition to its environmental objectives, the company also places a significant emphasis on identifying and partnering with strong management teams.
Harvest Power, Inc. was a privately held organics management company headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States that specializes in converting food waste and yard waste into biofuel, compost, mulch and fertilizer. In 2014 Fast Company named it one of the most innovative companies in the world. In August of 2020 Harvest Power Orlando ceased operations for unknown reasons and all assets were put up for sale; the company was dissolved in April 2021.
London Sustainable Industries Park (LSIP) is a 60 acre eco-industrial park in the Dagenham Dock area of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in London, England. Around half the plots are taken up by whole businesses and the remaining half have been sold to Segro to be divided up into spaces for smaller businesses, marketed as Segro Park Dagenham.
Prosper De Mulder Group, commonly known as PDM Group, was a British group of companies that operated in a number of fields associated with the food chain. It was acquired by the German-based SARIA Group and the name was changed to SARIA in 2014. The company provided services to the agricultural and food sectors, as a producer of green forms of energy, and as a manufacturer of products for human consumption, pet food, aquaculture, oleochemistry and agriculture.
Himark Biogas Inc. is a waste-to-energy technology and engineering services company. Himark's provides services such as licensing of patented anaerobic digestion technology, conducting feasibility studies, carrying out project design, providing support on engineering and construction, commissioning, and rescue and resuscitation of digesters.
Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) is a Swiss company specialising in energy from waste (EfW). It is a subsidiary of the Japanese Hitachi Zosen Corporation since its acquisition in 2010 from A-TEC Industries.