Anaerobic Digestion

Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a process where biodegradable material is broken down by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen in an enclosed vessel. The process produces a Biogas which can be used for generating renewable power and a nutrient-rich solid/liquor known as digestate which can be used as fertiliser and compost. Anaerobic Digestion uses biodegradable waste materials from Agricultural Waste such as manure and slurry, Food Waste and Sewage Sludge. Where the process utilises Animal By-product Material, it must comply with the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2011 requirements.

Biogen Ad Plant in Gwynedd 11,500 tonnes of food waste per year - source Biogen.co.uk

Overview

Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a process where biodegradable material is broken down by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen in an enclosed vessel. Biogas is produced that can be used for the generation of power (electic and heat), or refined and used as a 'biomethane', and Digestate is produced which can be used as a 'biofertiliser'. The process of AD occurs in several stages and requires a community of micro-organisms:

1. Hydrolysis - large, complex polymers like carbohydrates, cellulose, proteins and fats are broken down by hydrolytic enzymes into simple sugars, amino acids and fatty acids.
2. Acidogenesis - simple monomers are broken down into volatile fatty acids
3. Acetogenesis - the products of acidogenesis are broken down into acetic acid, releasing hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
4. Methanogenesis - bacteria called methane formers produce methane either by cleaving two acetic acid molecules to form carbon dioxide and methane, or by reduction of carbon hydroxide with hydrogen

Feedstock

Anaerobic Digestion uses biodegradable waste materials from a range of different sources:

• Food Waste
• Agricultural Waste such as manure and slurry
• Sewage Sludge
• Crops (including maize, grass silage, energy beet and whole crop cereals).

Where the process utilises Animal By-product Material, it must comply with the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2011 requirements.

In addition, AD projects are required to report on their Biomass Sustainability under the ROC, FIT and SEG schemes, which demonstrates sustainability of the biogas produced based upon:

• meeting greenhouse gas criteria and is made from solid biomass (i.e. Farm AD based on a crop such as maize) that also meets the land criteria
• is made from feedstock which is waste (i.e. Food AD) or
• consists of both of the above (i.e. Farm AD that is multi-streamed).

Feedstock Sectors

AD plants tend to be broadly categorised into the following groups:

• Agricultural (often grouped simply into 'Farm AD')
• Mixed Agricultural/Food Waste (also often grouped simply into 'Farm AD')
• On-site Industrial (for example specialised applications for waste milk at a diary)
• Food Waste AD (often simply termed 'Food AD')
• Sewage (Sludge) AD
• Other

Food AD and Farm AD projects (the former being 'pure' Food Waste and the latter being either single stream (i.e. based on manures alone) or multi-streamed (i.e. based on a mix of crop and/or manure and/or Food Waste). Sewage Sludge doesn't tend to be blended with other materials and tends to be a dedicated AD solution in its own right - primarily as it becomes impossible to to deliver End of Waste compost with the introduction of Sewage Sludge as an input feedstock.

Biogas

The process produces a Biogas which is around 60% methane, 40% carbon dioxide and traces of other contaminant gas (depending on the feedstock being digested). Biogas can be combusted to provide heat, electricity, or both. Alternatively the Biogas can be 'upgraded' to pure methane, often called biomethane, by removing other gases. This pure stream of biomethane can then be injected it into the mains gas grid or used as a road fuel. One cubic metre of biogas at 60% methane content converts to 6.7 kWh energy.

Digestate

Digestate is a nutrient-rich substance produced by AD that can be used as a fertiliser. It consists of left over indigestible material and dead micro-organisms - the volume of digestate will be around 90-95% of what was fed into the digester. Digestate is not compost, although it has some similar characteristics. In order for the material to no longer be considered as waste and be used as a fertiliser, the digestate must meet the standards set out in the Quality protocol and PAS110 (SEPA position statement in Scotland)

Process Options

The process options are varied to manage the AD stages into the following classifications:

• Mesophilic or Thermophilic - operating at 25 to 45^oC and 50 to 60^oC respectively, the majority are Thermophilic in the UK
• Wet or dry
• Continuous or batch flow - the majority are continuous flow in the UK
• Single, double or multiple digesters - most are single or double in the UK and can manage the stages more efficiently
• Vertical tank or horizontal plug flow

Growth in Anaerobic Digestion

Whilst the introduction of the Renewables Obligation in 2002 started to stimulate growth in larger AD projects (including 'Food AD' and 'Sewage Sludge AD') it was only really with the introduction of The FIT scheme in 2010 that the AD market really started to grow, stimulating smaller projects and especially 'Farm AD' based on crops, Agricultural Waste and in some cases Food Waste. This was also enabled by investment tax benefits for investing in these projects (EIS and SEIS especially, which reduced in impact with changes to the schemes in 2015/16 leading to less investment stimulus. With greater focus on the collection of separate Food Waste from 2011 onwards this also stimulated the market at the time by making materials available with gate fees payable. The roll-out of Food Waste collection, however, slowed and the stimulation provided by the FIT scheme was reduced in 2017, leading to projects relying on the creation of biomethane, which in turn relied on the RHI (for injection to the gas grid) and RTFO (for use in vehicles). This has led to a slower growth in the market, and depending on the view taken on load factors in the market (i.e. the amount of power/gas production vs the plated capacity) there is presently an excess of AD capacity in relation to the feedstocks available to the plants, especially for separately collected Food Waste.

An analysis of the data provided by National Statistics for the monthly FIT commissioned installations over the period of the schemes existence shows an increase from 1 plant prior to 2010 to 427 plants by March 2019, generating 294.9MW of power.

Feed in Tariffs: Cumulative Number of Installations 2010 to 2019 - Generated from National Statistics data

Feed in Tariffs: Cumulative Capacity Installed 2010 to 2019 - Generated from National Statistics data

The graphs show the slowing of the cumulative growth in capacity from late 2016, linked to a change in the amounts payable under the FIT scheme

Capacity	Cumulative Number of Plants Installed	% Split	Cumulative Capacity Installed(MW)	% Split
<=250kW	133	31%	23.7	8%
250-500kW	166	39%	80.1	27%
500-5MW	128	30%	191.1	65%
Total	427	100%	294.9	100%

The table shows that by 2019, whilst the size of plants were relatively evenly distributed amongst the 3 bands of measurement/scales of plant, the larger scale projects had a disproportionally large installed capacity.

Number of UK Sites

At December 2018 National Statistics reported the following key statistics for the number of AD sites generating electricity (extract from table 6F).

	FIT Confirmed	Other Sites	Total
Sewage Sludge Digestion	0	194	194
Anaerobic Digestion	419	199	618
Total	4191	393	812

1. noted as 427 by the Ofgem reported figures above (these figures appear to be reporting December 2016 figures despite saying December 2018 in the table)

The table below is reproduced from table 4.3 in the Renewable Obligation Annual Report 2017-18 by Ofgem and shows the consignments reported by AD against the sustainability criteria required by the Biomass Sustainability reporting, although those with <1MW are not formally linked to a ROC issue :

		AD Stations <1MW	AD Stations ≥1MW	AD Stations >25MW
Meets the Land Criteria	Yes	111	134	0
-"-	No	0	0	0
-"-	Exempt	178	655	12
-"-	Unknown	43	0	0
Total	1033	232	789	12
Meets the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Criteria	Yes	12	204	0
-"-	No	0	0	0
-"-	Exempt	183	585	12
-"-	Unknown	137	0	0
Total	1133	332	789	12

There are currently 100 AD stations with a Greenhouse Gas Emission installed capacity less than 1MW The difference between the National Statistics data and the Ofgem data above, i.e. 213 sites (adjusted from the 221 sites with the time error data highlighted above), can be inferred to be those AD plants that are producing biomethane rather than electricity (assuming their other datasets align).

AD Feedstock (by Volume of Gas Burnt) in AD <1MW but >50kW
Data Table % Split
Abbatoir Waste (AW)	1
Food Waste (FW)	1
Manures and Slurries (MS)	20
Silage (Si)	73
Whole Crops (WC)	2
Other (Ot)	3