Ecotricity makes first biogas available to UK consumers

The Ecotricity gas will be supplied from a mix of green and conventional ‘brown’ sources, with the green fuel mix processed through anaerobic digestion (AD) from food waste and organic materials that would ordinarily be dumped straight into landfill or burnt in incinerators.

Using the same model as it has with its wind energy since 1996, Ecotricity will increase the biogas mix gradually as more customers sign up to it and it builds new renewable supplies.

Ecotricity has also promised consumers they will not be paying a premium for the green gas, with a price pledge to match any British Gas on it’s standard gas and dual fuel prices.

Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder, said: “We're the real British Gas now. We’re kick-starting the market to move Britain from brown to green gas, turning people’s gas bills into green gas mills, just as we’ve been doing with windmills for over a decade.

“People can now have complete control of where the money they spend on their energy bills goes, and ultimately where their energy will come from. Nobody has to carry on giving their money to the big multinational energy companies, who seem determined to keep burning whatever in the world they can get their hands on like there’s no tomorrow.”

Ecotricity says its biogas is making use of the millions of tonnes of waste created every year in the UK. Britain currently wastes around 18 million tonnes of food a year, which Ecotricity says could produce enough biogas to supply over 700,000 homes and has the potential to generate as much as half of the UK’s domestic gas with the right Government backing.

The company claims the green gas could also help secure the UK’s energy security as half of Britain’s winter gas supplies already come from foreign sources, such as Russia.

“By choosing green gas, customers can help unhook Britain from its addiction to foreign gas supplies, make a positive long-term change to the world we live in, and could also keep thousands of tonnes of waste out of landfill which could even help keep council tax bills down."

Ultimately, Ecotricity says it plans to create biogas from emerging next-generation technologies, such as special strains of algae, a naturally occurring, fast reproducing and potentially endless source of energy.