NEWS RELEASE
Date: 4 September 2008
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Anaerobic digestion can help farmers clean up the water environment
Innovative technology which turns organic matter into biogas – a renewable source of energy and a transport fuel – could play an important part in helping farmers meet strict new environmental rules, Environment Minister Phil Woolas said today.
From January 2009 farmers will have to step up action to cut the amount of nitrates from fertiliser that gets into rivers. This will include restricting the times of year that fertiliser can be spread on land and storing excess manure outside these times.
Treating the manure in on-farm anaerobic digestion plants while it is being stored could produce biogas, which farmers could use as a source of energy. The treated manure can be returned to the soil as fertiliser.
Phil Woolas acknowledged that there are still hurdles to be overcome, saying:
“Tackling pollution from agriculture is central to boosting the quality of our water environment. Left unchecked it can have serious effects on local rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters, and the plant life and wildlife that depend on those.
“Anaerobic digestion is an exciting and innovative technology, and it is clear we are not making full use of its potential. I know from talking to the farming industry that there are barriers to enabling its wider take up by farmers and that’s something I have promised to look at.”
Defra ministers met around fifty senior industry and non-government organisation executives in July to discuss ways of increasing the use of anaerobic digestion, and delegates agreed to work with government and each other to overcome barriers to increasing its capacity in this country. A follow up meeting later this year will review progress.
Notes to editors
- The Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008 (SI2349 September 2008) implement the Nitrates Directive in England. Defra consulted on draft changes to the existing regulations last August. Defra’s response to the consultation and information on wider nitrates issues can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/Environment/water/quality/nitrate/default.htm.
- The Nitrates Directive was adopted in Europe in 1991 and is the main policy mechanism available to Defra for tackling water pollution caused by nitrogen from agricultural sources. It requires farmers within Nitrate Vulnerable Zones to follow an Action Programme of measures aimed at controlling when, where, how, and in what amount, nitrogen can be applied to land. Areas are identified as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones on the basis that they drain to waters which have, or are likely to have, nitrate levels above 50 mg per litre, or that they are eutrophic or likely to become eutrophic.
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Page published: 4 September 2008