Grass to gas – UK’s answer to fracking?

A plant that turns grass to gas could be the UK’s “antidote to fracking”, according to a green energy provider. Ecotricity said it will roll out the new way of […]

A plant that turns grass to gas could be the UK’s “antidote to fracking”, according to a green energy provider.

Ecotricity said it will roll out the new way of generating gas in Britain following several years of research and development.

The ‘Green Gas Mills’ will use grass from farms in local areas to produce biogas, with each plant heating 6,000 homes.

It will be purified into biomethane and fed into the national grid plus the fertiliser would be used by farmers to improve the soil.

Ecotricity claims green gas could immediately start displacing imported fossil fuel gas in the grid and provide a “viable carbon neural alternative to fracking”.

Founder Dale Vince said: “Green Gas Mills will produce gas that is carbon neutral, supports food production and is sustainable – with the process actually improving the local environment rather than damaging it – it’s the antithesis of fracking.

“If both the energy and agricultural sectors can grasp this opportunity, this can end of the debate around fracking because we simply won’t need it.”

The development in Gloucestershire will enter the planning stages in the next few months and could be operating before 2017 if it gets approved.

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