National Grid’s Gas Distribution arm has just signed an investment deal with Advanced Plasma Power, putting funds up to develop a new bio gas plant in Swindon.
The bio-substitute natural gas (BioSNG) plant will work to transform household waste into energy providing natural gas for vehicles and homes across the UK.
The plant has so far attracted £25 million worth of investment, with National Grid Gas Distribution putting up £6.3 million of that total. Other funding has come from the Department for Transport’s Advanced Biofuel Competition, and Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition.
The plant’s gas will first be used to power a fleet of trucks managed by a logistics company. This change in fuel used by the trucks will reduced the fleet’s carbon footprint by as much as 80%. Transport is one of the big targets for BioSNG, with huge potential for carbon emissions reduction in the sector. Chris Train, CEO of National Grid Gas Distribution, said: “Green gas fuelled vehicles…cause much less pollution than diesel and are particularly suitable for inner cities.”
National Grid explained that the BioSNG technology used in the Swindon plant could, if rolled out across the country, provide enough green gas to fuel every HGV in the UK, massively reducing the transport industry’s carbon footprint.
While powering vehicles on green gas does require converting the engines (though this is not a particularly difficult process), it can also be used to power household heating and cooking appliances with no change required at all. The Swindon plant is expected to start rolling out its green gas to households by 2018. When running at full capacity, the plant is set to produce enough green gas to reduce the nation’s carbon emissions by as much as 5000 tonnes per year, according to National Grid.
Train said: “Developing green technologies such as BioSNG means our customers can keep on using our network and their existing household appliances for affordable energy which will also be more sustainable and eco-friendly.”
