Climate change: Policy makers urged to recognise 'vital role' of AD

Advocates for AD - a source of renewable energy often found on farms - are calling for more support for the sector
Advocates for AD - a source of renewable energy often found on farms - are calling for more support for the sector

Policy makers are being urged to recognise the 'vital role' of on-farm anaerobic digestion to help tackle emissions following the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.

The IPCC called on "strong, rapid and sustained” reductions to greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane, within the next decade to avert a climate catastrophe.

Its sixth assessment report warned of more frequent heatwaves, droughts and flooding, and a key temperature limit being broken in just over a decade.

Following the report, the World Biogas Association (WBA) has called for the potential of the biogas industry to be 'urgently unlocked'.

It said that the sector could help deliver the "rapid reductions in GHG emissions and in particular methane" to help address the climate emergency.

Anaerobic digestion produces biogas by recycling methane-emitting organic wastes, and advocates say it is a readily available low-cost technology that can help reduce emissions.

Charlotte Morton, WBA chief executive said: "Crucially, anaerobic digestion, the technology that produces biogas - also known as renewable natural gas or biomethane - is ready to deliver now.

"What is badly missing is the political will to remove policy barriers to the growth of the sector - both at global and national levels."

Without anaerobic digestion fully deployed, it would 'simply impossible' to keep below 1.5 degrees by 2030, nor to achieve net zero by 2050.

But with the right policy framework in place, anaerobic digestion could cut emissions by 10 percent by 2030, Ms Morton said.

"With its latest report, the IPCC has just issued its starkest warning yet of the danger of climate change and of the need to act urgently," she added.

"We are today issuing our own warning to world governments that it is dangerous to overlook the recognised power of AD as an immediate solution."