The GMB union has thrown its weight behind demands for the UK government to back a wave of biomethane plants to keep millions of British homes warm over the coming years
Cow dung could help heat millions of UK homes and support tens of thousands of jobs, it is claimed.
Cattle farming – and the greenhouse gas methane that the animals produce – has been blamed for fuelling environmental harm. The creatures also create a lot of something else: manure.
But this by-product is now increasingly being put to work through the production of biomethane that can be pumped into the gas network. It is produced in anaerobic digesters, which are essentially sealed artificial stomach that process organic material such as agricultural waste and food waste.
Reports suggest there are already around 130 plants across the country producing enough biomethane to power about one million homes. Once the number that under development are added, the figure of homes increases to 1.2million.
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Two neighbouring villages in Somerset with a combined 1,400 residents – Nether Stowey and Over Stowey – have been supplied with biomethane from a local farm for the past decade. The GMB union believes the technology has the potential to provide energy for between eight and 10 million homes is now calling the government to throw its weight behind the technology so it can be dramatically scaled-up.
Increasing production to 50 terawatt hours (TWh) of biomethane by 2030 and 120TWh by 2050 would enough to provide 90% of the country’s gas needs, creating at least 60,000 jobs in the process. it says. Yet while UK agriculture produces around 82 million tonnes of livestock manure and slurry each year, less that 1% is used specifically for biomethane.
Looking further afield, The International Energy Agency estimates that biogas produced by turning organic material such as cow manure into renewable energy has the potential to meet 20% of today’s global demand for natural gas. It isn’t just heating where biomethane is seen as having a lot potential.
In 2023, supermarket Waitrose announced it would become first UK retailer to use renewable natural gas to power tractors at a farm it owns in Hampshire. Three years earlier it opened a biomethane filling station for a fleet of its trucks.
Andy Prendergast, GMB National Secretary, said: “It may raise a wry smile, but cow dung really could be crucial to the UK’s clean energy future. It’s virtual identical to natural gas so can use existing infrastructure, it’s low carbon and – as any farmer will tell you – it’s only too renewable. We could already heat 500 hospitals with the biomethane produce, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“By 2050 it could provide a third of all the gas we need, creating tens of thousands of jobs in the process. It’s a no brainer – if ministers adopt these proposals, they deserve a pat on the head.”
Yet despite the optimism, and investment in the sector, others are sceptical cow dung and other waste are the answer.
A study commissioned by the MCS Foundation charity suggested biomethane could account for at best 18% of the UK’s gas demands by 2050. Garry Felgate, its chief executive, said in September: “Biomethane has an important role to play in decarbonisation – but not in homes.”
