George Osborne should forget shale gas and instead focus on other forms of gas which are renewable, like biogas.

That’s the view of the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association, which believes the Chancellor’s efforts to give shale gas a helping hand would be better spent elsewhere.

On Monday Mr Osborne said in a speech at the Tory party conference he would create a “generous” tax regime for shale gas.

The ADBA suggests biogas from anaerobic digestion (AD), the process which sees scrap food and waste effective fermented to create gas, will significantly boost generation capacity in good time and at relatively low cost, while helping the UK meet climate change targets because it is renewable.

Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of the ADBA said: “Mr Osborne has recognised that we need to invest in renewable energy, however we would like to see more focused support for our best source of unconventional gas, biogas from AD, which can provide energy security at a lower cost and, since it’s renewable, with far lower carbon emissions and environmental impact than more experimental technologies like shale gas.”

She added: “Faced with the prospect of spare generation capacity falling 10% in three years and unprecedented increases in electricity prices the government needs to invest strategically in alternative energy sources. AD can be scaled up fast and cheaply and with the right support could generate 40 TWh of biogas, equivalent to 10% of the UK’s domestic gas demand, at the same time as boosting economic growth and creating 35,000 jobs.”