Anaerobic digestion can mitigate climate change

Climate change is a significant environmental issue that the world is currently facing due to unsustainable energy consumption and global warming. The use of household digesters could help to address this problem by reducing deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, soil erosion and the loss of cultivable land.

Greenhouse gases emitted from burning fossil fuels are major contributors to global warming, and biogas production can partially reduce this problem. The utilisation of biogas in households offers various environmental, economic and social benefits, writes Ishani Banerjee, BEng. Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering.

Countries such as India and China make extensive use of biogas on domestic, agricultural and industrial levels. Ireland has set ambitious targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the development of renewable energy sources, and anaerobic digestion can become a key technology for achieving these goals.

One of the major biogas plants in Ireland is Green Generation in County Kildare. The grid injection point for the plant is at Cush, and is the first of its kind in Ireland. The Irish government has introduced a range of supports and incentives to encourage the development of anaerobic digestion in the country.

These include the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), which is a provider of financial support for the development of renewable electricity projects, and the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH), which supports the installation of renewable heat technologies such as anaerobic digestion.

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