News

• Adam Vaughan
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 12 May 2009 17.07 BST

Solar energy will fall in price to match the cost of conventional fossil fuel electricity far sooner than previously expected, the UK's largest solar company has claimed in a new report. Solarcentury said British homeowners will see solar achieve "grid parity" – the point where solar electricity rivals or becomes cheaper than conventional nonrenewable electricity – by 2013. Most predictions suggest that technological innovation will not bring the price down far enough until 2020 or later.

The company suggested falling production costs for solar panels and increasing conventional electricity costs have brought parity closer. Prices for solar and grid electricity in residential homes are expected to crossover at around 17p to 18p per unit of electricity (kWh) in 2013, followed by parity for commercial solar electricity in 2018.

Last December, the renewable energy analysts New Energy Finance predicted silicon costs – a key material for much solar panel technology – would fall by 31.5% in 2009 compared with 2008 levels. Energy consultants Element Energy, under commission from the government, have also forecast solar PV costs will fall by around half between now and 2020.

Derry Newman, CEO for Solarcentury, said: "When you reach grid parity, you have a watershed moment where the perceptions of investors and consumers shift. People have been programmed to believe solar is expensive and takes a hundred years to pay back, but when parity arrives people realise it takes 8-10 years to payback, and they can then be making money out of it."

Jeremy Leggett, executive chairman of Solarcentury said, "The feed-in tariff that the government has said it will bring in from April 2010 is vital. A burst of premium-pricing for solar energy, of the kind now on offer in 18 European countries, will stimulate a very fast-growing market."

Experts said the projections were based on significant assumptions in future energy prices, which have been extremely volatile over recent years – last year saw gas and electricity prices double, but now household bills are falling again.

Ray Noble, solar PV specialist at the Renewable Energy Association, said: "The predicted grid parity by 2013 could be possible if all of the predictions, both in terms of grid electricity prices increasing and reductions in the cost of solar PV, come through. However that's a big if – any slight changes in the pricing can add further years to this date." He added that the important message is that even if grid parity slipped to 2016, the moment when solar can compete on cost is not far off.

Chris Goodall, Green party parliamentary candidate and author of Ten Technologies to Save the Planet, warned the grid parity predictions were based on unrealistic price assumptions. "This projection of residential grid parity depends crucially on continually increasing prices of conventional electricity, but I just don't see any evidence that residential electricity will cost 17-18p a kWh in 2013. The 'underlying' retail price of electricity at the moment is no more than 11p per kWh," he said.

Newman argued that China will continue to take more fossil fuel and believes peak oil will begin to bite in 2013, which will both contribute to rising prices in fossil fuel electricity.

Other parts of the world, such as Spain and California, have already achieved grid parity on the price of solar, but only for large installations rather than small scale ones for homeowners

» Full article on guardian.co.uk

• Helen Pidd
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 May 2009 18.20 BST

A German town will become the first in the world to be powered by animal waste when it launches a biogas network this year.

Lünen, north of Dortmund, will use cow and horse manure as well as other organic material from local farms to provide cheap and sustainable electricity for its 90,000 residents.

Biogas is already used around the world – it will power buses in Oslo from September – but Lünen claims to be the only town to build a dedicated biogas network.

Material such as animal slurry and spoiled crops from local farms will be fed into heated tanks, where natural fermentation will break it down into methane and carbon dioxide – the same basic ingredients as natural gas. This biogas can then be burned to generate electricity and heat in a combined heat and power plant (CHP) before the heat is distributed across the town through a new biogas pipeline, which is being built underground.

The plant can produce 6.8MW, enough to power and heat 26,000 houses. According to Peter Kindt, director of Alfagy Ltd, which distributes CHP plants, the Lünen network could provide 30-40% of the town's heat and electricity needs.

The benefits of biogas are clear, say its developers. "This sustainable technology allows local production of local power, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and fuel imports," said Kindt.

The CHP plants are camouflaged as decorative installations featuring wood and plants.

Kindt admits that because of the smell, anyone near the CHP plant in Lünen will know it's there. But he insists that residents will not find their living rooms scented with slurry every time they turn the heating on. "Unlike wind or solar power, a biogas network is barely noticeable to residents," he said.

» Full article on guardian.co.uk

Renewable gas has the potential to make a significant contribution to the UK’s renewable energy and carbon reduction targets for 2020. And in the longer term, with the right government policies in place, renewable gas could meet up to 50% of UK residential gas demand. Produced mainly via a process of anaerobic digestion (AD) or thermal gasification of the UK’s biodegradeable waste, renewable gas represents a readily implementable solution for delivering renewable heat to homes in the UK. Renewable gas can also deliver greater security of energy supply for the country as well as a solution for waste management as UK landfill capacity declines.

» Click here to read full Paper

For the large part, renewable energy development has been focussed on larger scale development, e.g. that would power entire towns and cities. As such, the desire has been to develop larger wind turbines.

As we all know, there are drawbacks to this scale of development, e.g. 'eye saw' and 'noise pollution'.

However, there appears to be motion towards development of smaller wind turbines, or 'better' wind turbines, which would be more suited for 'micro' use, e.g. to power small businesses, farms and domestic usage, in other words 'microgeneration'.

The following two articles expand upon the above notion:

• Wind turbine development moving on from pursuit of size
• Tory microgeneration Bill seeks to bring “power to the people”

By Keri Sutherland and Ian Gallagher
Last updated at 1:31 AM on 05th January 2009

• Comments (189)

Taxpayers are facing a multi-million-pound bill to store 100,000 tons of waste paper and cardboard as the British recycling industry plunges into crisis.

Rubbish carefully sorted by householders is piling up in vast warehouses as the market for waste paper collapses, and experts have warned that the mountain of garbage could double in the next three months.

Waste paper is now virtually unsellable, so the private firms contracted to deal with household rubbish have been forced to put it into storage, incurring huge bills.

What a waste: Some of the Britain's 100,000 tons of stockpiled paper at the Greencycle warehouse in Bowburn, County Durham

Some companies have begun to claw back the cost from local authorities, prompting fears of hikes in council tax bills and raising the question of whether the ‘kerbside’ recycling, championed by environmentalists across the country, is economically viable.

Last night Steve Bell, of Recycling UK, revealed that none of Britain’s 80 paper mills is now accepting new stock – and warned that the situation is not expected to fully recover until 2010.

Mr Bell said: ‘I would imagine that there are about 100,000 tons of local authority waste still sitting in warehouses, but that could double by March. Local authorities need a rigid system to cope with the amount of waste paper produced.’

Another concern is that if paper is stored for longer than three months it will rot and attract vermin, rendering it worthless. It then has to be incinerated or sent to landfill.
Hundreds of councils pay private firms a fixed rate to either collect waste direct from kerbsides or from depots.

These firms then sell it on to paper mills, which convert it into usable paper, envelopes and newsprint, which is used to make newspapers and tissues. But with demand plummeting, due largely to markets drying up in China, contractors are becoming increasingly desperate.

The price of mixed paper and cardboard waste has dropped from about £70 a ton to £10 in the past six weeks. And the cost of storage means some private firms are charging councils an extra £20 for every ton of paper and cardboard collected.

That means the paper mountain could have already cost taxpayers about £2million – and that figure could double in the next three months as the pile grows from 100,000 to 200,000 tons at a rate of 8,300 tons a week.

While demand for other materials such as plastic and glass has also reduced, it has not collapsed to the same extent as that for paper.

No takers: More waste paper piles up at the Veolia plant in Rainham, Essex

Dave Davis, owner of Oswestry Waste Paper, said: ‘The situation has changed with the pound being so weak. Paper and cardboard are the hardest to shift and in Shropshire we have been stockpiling since October.

‘Contractors in at least five different areas of the country are charging £20 more a ton to collect paper.’

He said the extra waste produced over Christmas had significantly added to the problem.

Greencycle, a firm contracted to collect kerbside recycling in the North East, revealed that it is negotiating with councils over expected £200,000 losses. In October, the company was forced to rent a warehouse to house 3,500 extra tons of paper.

Managing director Neil Rippon said councils had been ‘very receptive’ to an approach for thousands of pounds over and above their existing contract.

Because councils rely on the private contractors to collect kerbside recycling, they often have little choice but to acquiesce to their demands.

Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Councils which are in this predicament should negotiate hard with the contractors, because taxpayers will be less than pleased to see a hike in their council tax bills next year.

‘When the economy is in recession and families are struggling to pay their bills and fear for their jobs, councils need to think hard about the future of these schemes. We all want to do our bit for the environment, but we can’t afford higher tax bills this year.’

Lancaster-based Envirofirst said: ‘We have not billed councils yet but it’s a consideration. We’ve got between 3,000 and 4,000 tons of waste in our stockpile at the moment. The trouble is that a lot of these companies jumped in when the industry was booming. Now, a lot of them have gone bust.’

Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers' Alliance

One of the biggest, French-owned Veolia Environmental Services, is contracted to manage waste for more than 100 local authorities. No one at the company was available to discuss whether Veolia was charging councils to stockpile household waste.

Yesterday, at the company’s plant in Rainham, Essex, huge mountains of waste paper lay exposed in piles.

It is understood that the local Medway Council sends recycled household materials to this site.

Over the past five years, contractors have benefited from a European Union requirement to slash landfill by 50 per cent by 2013.

Councils are fined £32 per ton if they send materials that could be recycled to landfill sites. This forced councils to boost recycling efforts to meet
their targets.

In turn, local authorities imposed strict rules on householders already struggling to keep waste to a minimum in the period between fortnightly bin collections. In some areas of the country, residents face fines of up to £200 if they ‘contaminate’ recycling containers with the wrong type of rubbish.

Typically, waste paper is collected and taken by a contractor to be bundled into bales before it is sold on to paper mills.

Before the market crashed, more than half of the ten million tons of recyclable household waste produced each year was sold to China, where steel cans, plastic, glass, paper and cardboard are processed and used to build homes, cars and electrical goods.

But the economic crisis has led to a plunge in demand from China for British raw materials. Although some materials are beginning to recover their worth, waste paper remains a problem.

Scores of paper mills closed down in Britain last year, unable to cope with the competition from China’s high-tech mills. Of the 8.6million tons of paper and cardboard saved each year for recycling, only four million can be pulped in this country.

The remainder went to China, which, unlike Britain, was desperate for raw materials to feed its booming economy. But with a glut of paper in the Chinese market, there is nowhere for the current surplus to go.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: ‘We are expecting the market to bounce back in the next month or so. We want people to hold their nerve – we don’t have the space in landfill if people stop recycling. We can’t lose sight of that in the face of this temporary blip in the market.’

In December the Environment Agency reported a surge of councils applying for extra space to store surplus recycled waste. It is even considering renting out abandoned military hangars and airbases in an attempt to ease the problem.

America faces a similar problem and has also identified hangars and abandoned railway depots to take mountains of unprofitable ‘trash’.

In Britain, campaigners have voiced concern over the mountains of excess recycling building up nationwide.

Councils are fined £32 per ton if they send materials that could be recycled to landfill sites

Doretta Cocks, founder of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection, called for more transparency on how taxpayers’ money is being spent.

She said: ‘I imagine the bodies involved are keeping everything on the quiet if they are paying extra for space.

‘These warehouses full of paper are a huge fire risk as well. The bottom line is the Environment Agency does not want anything to affect recycling rates.

‘There is no point recycling our waste if it is not going anywhere or straight to landfill – particularly if householders are propping up the contracted companies.

‘The Government needs to sort out this problem sooner rather than later.’

According to the latest figures from the Local Government Association, five per cent of councils are stockpiling recycled waste. But the survey addresses only stocks councils hold themselves – not the piles of waste they sold on to contractors.

LGA chairman Paul Bettison said: ‘The economic downturn has presented challenges to local authorities, but the vast majority of recycling services have been completely unaffected. The festive period generates millions of tons of extra rubbish, and it is vital that residents continue to recycle as much of their waste as possible.

‘The alternative would be for the rubbish to go into landfill, which is expensive for the council tax payer and damaging to the environment.’

The Confederation of Paper Industries described the situation as bleak. A spokesman said that demand in China for waste paper would probably not recover, adding: ‘There are no obvious signs of Far East buyers returning to the market soon.’

And he added that even if there was an eventual recovery, ‘it is very doubtful that prices for the material will be anywhere near where they were during the middle of 2008’.
He also explained that the amount of stockpiled material would mean prices would be suppressed for a much longer period.

Shadow Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said: ‘Councils are being forced either to stockpile rubbish across the country or else be hit by swingeing fines and taxes imposed from Whitehall.

‘Labour Ministers have spent too much time bullying households with bin cuts and bin fines – with bin taxes on the way – and failed to promote sustainable, long-term markets in recycling.

‘This is a prime example of how Labour’s heavy-handed penalties just don’t work, whereas Conservatives believe in using genuine incentives to deliver environmental benefits.’

» http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1104741/Recycling-crisis-Taxpayers-foot-UKs-growing-waste-paper-mountain-market-collapses.html

An interesting interview, or should I say grilling, by George Monbiot with head of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Shaun Spiers, who asks why the countryside watchdog opposes wind farms - but not opencast coal mines. A little painful for Shaun Spiers who answers questions like a politician - tactical avoidance.

Picture and opencast coal mine, huge area of land that has been excavated, ugly and an eye saw. Compare this with a wind farm - Which is uglier? Which is preferred?

Watch video :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/dec/18/monbiot-cpre-wind-coal

Microgeneration and renewable heat technologies are as important as large-scale electricity generation in meeting the UK's renewable energy targets.

That was one of the main conclusions of today's report from the House of Lords EU sub-committee, which summed up the findings of an inquiry earlier this year into the UK's chances of meeting its 15% renewable energy goal being set by Europe for 2020.

The committee chaired by the former rail privatisation minister, Lord Freeman, said microgeneration grants should be increased and a new system of grants introduced for renewable heat.

Microgeneration

The Lords disagreed with the government view that microgeneration will not have a large part to play in meeting the 15% target, suggesting that projects smaller than 50kW electricity and 45kW heat generation "have the potential to contribute significantly".

It was noted that household energy generation systems help raise awareness of energy use and energy efficiency among householders.

The biggest barrier highlighted was the potential cost of microgeneration systems proving unpopular, but the Lords noted that costs were generally compared to centralised fossil fuel power plants, and that if fossil fuel prices rise, microgeneration becomes more attractive.

Next week should see the government publishing details of its proposed feed-in tariff for electricity microgeneration, as a proposed amendment to the Energy Bill currently going through the Lords, which would also help with the financial aspect of household power systems.

A feed-in tariff involves a long-term contract for renewable energy produced by small-scale power generation systems above the market rate for electricity.

The British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) told reporters this week that it is arguing for a cap on an electricity feed-in tariff to limit it to projects below 500kW in size, in order to protect the existing Renewables Obligation incentive for larger green power installations.

Friends of the Earth said last night that the government should listen to the Lords committee and introduce a "comprehensive" feed-in tariff that encourages farmers, communities and businesses to get involved in green power generation, not just households.

Campaigner Robin Webster said: "If the Government gets it right the UK could become a world leader in the development of small-scale green energy - creating new green collar jobs and a booming new industry."...

This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday June 03 2008 on p9 of the UK news section. It was last updated at 09:15 on June 03 2008. 

Read full article: http://www.newenergyfocus.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=32&listitemid=1852&section=Legislation

Wholesale electricity prices surged higher yesterday amid mounting fears that the UK could face a supply shortfall next month.

The forward price of electricity for November hit highs of £133 per megawatt hour, up more than £10 since Friday, when the same contract was trading at about £122.75.

The price of power has risen sharply since National Grid published figures last week predicting an unusually thin margin between electricity supply and demand. For the week starting November 10, National Grid gave warning that the margin of spare capacity could be as slim as 0.8 gigawatts - the equivalent of one mid-sized coal-fired power station or the electricity consumed by a city the size of Nottingham.

“The market is very close to its safety limit,” Andrew Horstead, of the energy consultancy Utilyx, said. In an average week in March, the margin of spare capacity is more than 12 times higher - about 10GW - rising to more than 16GW in July or August...

This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday June 03 2008 on p9 of the UK news section. It was last updated at 09:15 on June 03 2008. 

Read full article: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/utilities/article4864031.ece

Wouldn't it be great if you could create your own energy to power your home. If you had access to an unlimited supply of (almost) free  energy. No more bills (within reason).

Given the right conditions, economic, political, etc., this could be a reality in the future. Not only will we be able to power our own homes, we will be able to sell power back to the grid, and also know that what we do benefits the environment as a whole.

Government intervention could helps us, the people, over the first hurdle to make this notion a reality.

The excerpt from the article below (guardian.co.uk) elaborates on 'government intervention'.

British buildings equipped with solar panels, mini wind turbines and other renewable energy sources could generate as much electricity a year as five nuclear power stations, a government-backed industry report has shown.

A large-scale switch to micro renewable energy units could save 30m tonnes of CO2 - the equivalent of nearly 5% of all the emissions produced in generating UK electricity, the study found.

The report, commissioned by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, said if the government offered the right combination of loans, grants and incentives, nearly 10m "microgeneration systems" could be installed by 2020, significantly reducing Britain's emissions and energy costs.

It estimated there are nearly 100,000 of the units installed in Britain, including about 90,000 solar water heaters and limited numbers of biomass boilers, photovoltaic sunlight-to-electricity converters, heat pumps, fuel cells and small-scale hydroelectric and windpower schemes.

If no action is taken, said the report, Britain could expect about 500,000 micro generators to be installed by 2015 and 2m to 3m by 2020. But with the right incentives, nearly one in five buildings would in effect become mini power stations, feeding electricity into the grid or generating enough to be largely self-sufficient. Some of the greatest gains would come from combined heat and power units, which are suitable for large blocks of flats, estates and businesses.

Britain has been widely criticised for not doing as much as other countries to encourage a mass market for small-scale renewables. Germany has invested nearly £10bn in photovoltaic sunlight to electricity conversion schemes, and Sweden has made it very attractive for consumers to install heat pumps.

The small-scale energy revolution would depend on the government stimulating the market with consumer-friendly schemes with a financial incentive. "For widespread uptake of microgeneration to occur in the UK, sustained policy support will be required," the report said.

The authors proposed a variety of incentives including a "feed-in" tariff scheme, which would reward people who invest in producing their own electricity. A similar scheme has been introduced in most European countries, and is part of the Conservatives' energy policy.

Other possible incentives include grants to cover 50% of the initial costs of equipment and installation. If the government subsidised half the cost of some of the technologies, Britain would save 14m tonnes of CO2 a year, or 3% of all emissions, for a cost of about £2.2bn a year by 2030.

A third option would be to provide discounted low-interest "soft loans" payable over 25 years. This, suggested the report, would lead to 8m units being installed by 2020. But it cautioned that the life of the loan would probably exceed the life of most power units. It also proposed a scheme whereby consumers would provide some of the cost of an electricity-generating boiler in return for a long-term reduction in their power bills.

The report has been published at a critical time, with the government's energy strategy to be outlined soon and microgeneration targets to be decided later in the year. With rising energy prices, and the Conservatives suggesting they will encourage microgeneration projects, the government is likely to adopt some of the suggestions. Energy minister Malcolm Wicks said: "Microgeneration has the potential to make a significant contribution to energy use in the UK and, combined with energy efficiency measures, will help towards reducing our carbon emissions. The concerned individual can take an active role in the battle against climate change."

The industry called for binding targets on microenergy, which it said would lead to greater certainty for investors and lower costs for consumers. "The report shows that with the right policies, citizens can save money and make a difference to tackling UK emissions," said Dave Sowden, chief executive of the Micropower Council. "Setting binding targets would play a substantial part in fulfilling the prime minister's pledge that all homes should be low-carbon within the next decade."

The report did not consider the problem posed by planning requirements. David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Wicks have all had applications to erect wind turbines on their roofs rejected by planning officers.

This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday June 03 2008 on p9 of the UK news section. It was last updated at 09:15 on June 03 2008. 

Click here for the full story:

» http://www.guardian.co.uk/...

There are many reasons that people cite in favour of the use of renewable energy solutions: environmentally friendly; self-sustainability; financial advantages. Well, how about another? A recent article in the Times reported on an occurrence that may become all to familiar in the near future due to dwindling fossil fuel stocks.

"Hundreds of thousands of people were hit by electricity blackouts yesterday (May 28th, 2008) when seven power stations shut down. The unscheduled stoppages were regarded as an unprecedented sign of the fragility of Britain’s power infrastructure.

Operations were cancelled, people were stuck in lifts, traffic lights failed and fire engines were sent out on false alarms. Householders were unable to use any appliances or make phonecalls as the blackouts hit areas including Cleveland, Cheshire, Lincolnshire and London."

Click here for the full story:

» http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4016552.ece

Government directives and intervention to vastly increase the production and use of biofuels may be overzealous.

As well as potentially negative effects on the immediate environment, e.g. deforestation to make place for biofuel crops, the actual processes involved in the production of such fuels may also be environmentally hazardous.

Consider the following:

• The grain required to fill the petrol tank of a Range Rover with ethanol is sufficient to feed one person per year. Assuming the petrol tank is refilled every two weeks, the amount of grain required would feed a hungry African village for a year
  
  
• Much of the fuel that Europeans use will be imported from Brazil, where the Amazon is being burned to plant more sugar and soybeans, and Southeast Asia, where oil palm plantations are destroying the rainforest habitat of orangutans and many other species. Species are dying for our driving
  
  
• If ethanol is imported from the US, it will likely come from maize, which uses fossil fuels at every stage in the production process, from cultivation using fertilisers and tractors to processing and transportation. Growing maize appears to use 30% more energy than the finished fuel produces, and leaves eroded soils and polluted waters behind
  
  
• Meeting the 5.75% target would require, according to one authoritative study, a quarter of the EU's arable land
  
  
• Using ethanol rather than petrol reduces total emissions of carbon dioxide by only about 13% because of the pollution caused by the production process, and because ethanol gets only about 70% of the mileage of petrol
  
  
• Food prices are already increasing. With just 10% of the world's sugar harvest being converted to ethanol, the price of sugar has doubled; the price of palm oil has increased 15% over the past year, with a further 25% gain expected next year.

You read the full news article by using the link below.

» http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5369284.stm

An informative and interesting article about how solar power has benefited a family in South East London.

As well as outlining cost benefits it also describes benefits that are not so familiar in the mainstream.

The break down of what the installation costs versus financial gains is very informative and will definitely aid those that are, at least, considering Solar as an alternative energy source.

The following points were also of particular interest:

"People seem fixated with asking how many years the system will take to pay back. I could answer the question at the current yield of 6%, but that is up to 7% next year, so the payback time will shorten. And if oil prices continue to rise, pushing up electricity prices, my yield will rise and the payback will shorten. So it is impossible to predict.

But all that misses the point. The system represents an improvement to the house that saves money. So it should generate a higher sale value if I move. People don't ask what the payback time is of a new kitchen or bathroom - also home improvements - so why do they ask about a carbon-saving technology?"

» http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/apr/19/householdbills.consumeraffairs2

Alvesta is pleased to announce it has just completed its largest ever commercial contract with Claremont Homes – a large nursing home development in Chichester where we have installed underfloor heating and solar panels to reduce running costs in the years to come.

Alvesta has been awarded a contract by Pearce Construction, one of the largest house builders in the South West, to create five homes (the first for Pearce Construction) which comply with the new code for Level 3 Sustainable Housing.

This requires that houses are 25% more energy efficient than the most recent 2006 building regulations.

Alvesta will achieve these savings using air source heat pumps, solar water heating  and underfloor heating.

Renewable energy hits the big time!

Writers of the top Radio 4 show, The Archers, are introducing a new storyline including the potential of acquiring a bio digester.

As the storyline progresses it will be interesting to see how certain characters react to the proposal, who will be for, who will be against and associated reasoning.

It wail also be interesting to hear how and if attitudes change once the system is in place and operational.

View Alvesta Bio-Digester

For more info click here.

The enquiries for bio-gas generators in both Kenya and Madagascar were for use in rural communities where the supply of fossil fuels is difficult, sporadic and expensive. Farmers will feed animal waste products and vegetation waste into the generator to create methane that will fuel cooking equipment.

As well as their obvious environmental benefits, this highlights the fact that renewable energy products, such as bio-gas generators, have wider reaching, positive socio/economic benefits for rural communities, such as those in Kenya and Madagascar.