Renewable energy in the United Kingdom can be divided into the generation of renewable electricity, the generation of renewable heat and renewable energy use in the transport sector.

From the mid-1990s renewable energy began to contribute to the electricity generated in the United Kingdom, adding to a small hydroelectricity generating capacity. Interest in renewable energy in the UK has increased in recent years due to new UK (and EU) targets for reductions in carbon emissions and the promotion of renewable electricity power generation through commercial incentives.

Progress against the Renewable Energy Directive (2009)

In 2016, renewable energy provisionally accounted for 8.9 per cent of final energy consumption, as measured using the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive (RED) methodology, an increase of 0.7 percentage points on 2015.

The UK has now exceeded its third interim target averaged over 2015 and 2016, at 8.5 per cent against its target of 7.5 per cent.

Renewable electricity accounted for 24.6 percent of total generation (as measured using the RED methodology), an increase of 2.3 percentage points compared to 2015.

Renewable heat accounted for 6.2 per cent of total heat consumption, an increase of 0.7 percentage points on 2015.

Renewable energy for transport accounted for 4.5 per cent of total transport energy, 0.1 percentage points higher than in 2015.

Electricity generation from solar photovoltaics increased by 2.9 TWh (38 percent) to 10.4 TWh, a record.

Total renewable energy increased by 706 ktoe (4.3 per cent), from 16,591 in 2015 to 17,296 ktoe in 2016.

Biogas from Anaerobic Digestion Powers 1million UK Homes

Biogas production in the UK has more than doubled.  Sufficient biogas is now being produced by UK anaerobic digestion plants to power over 1 million homes.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) in the UK now has a capacity of 730 MWe-e, with total energy generation of 10.7 TWh per year. AD is currently reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 1% and employing more than 3,500 people in the UK, but with the right policy support has the potential to reduce emissions by 4% and employ 35,000 people.

The fact that AD can now power over a million homes is a great milestone to achieve. However, while it's encouraging that the new Government has committed to the Paris Agreement and to meeting the UK's Carbon Budgets, there is currently a desperate lack of long-term policy support for AD, particularly in heat and transport, areas where AD can make a significant contribution to decarbonisation.

 

UK setting example through 

it's various 'Waste to Energy' projects

I would now like to share with you few of the innovative 'Waste to Energy' projects in the UK.

 

Car Fueled by Biofuel from Whiskey Waste

 

Blackford, Perthshire based Tullibardine is the first whisky distillery in the world to convert its waste by-products into advanced biofuel, capable of powering both petrol and diesel vehicles.

The distillery has signed a memorandum of understanding with Edinburgh-based Celtic Renewables, which said that it has developed the technology to produce biobutanol from the by-products of whisky production. 

This project has the support of ministers who believe it can contribute to the Scottish Government's target of reducing carbon emissions by 42% by 2020 as well as contributing to the EU-mandated biofuel target of 10% by 2020. 

Scottish start-up, Celtic Renewables, has already recently set the wheels of the first car to be fueled by a biofuel made from the waste residues of the whisky making process in motion.

The fuel, biobutanol, is a new advanced drop-in biofuel produced from draff - the sugar-rich kernels of barley which are soaked in water to facilitate the fermentation process necessary for whisky production - and pot ale, the copper-containing yeasty liquid that is left over following distillation.

Celtic Renewables' process uses bacterial fermentation to produce biobutanol, a process originally devised in the UK at the start of the last century to produce acetone for explosives in the First World War.

It was phased out in the 1960s due to competition from the petrochemical industry, but now Celtic Renewables said that it is bringing it back to life by applying it to the residues of the Scotch Whisky Industry.

Working with Tullibardine Distillery in Perthshire, the company – a spinout from Edinburgh Napier University - has developed a process to produce sustainable transport fuel from waste.

Scotland, as many of you may be knowing, is famous for its world-renowned whisky. Each year in Scotland the Malt Whisky industry produces almost 750,000 tonnes of draff and 2 billion litres of pot ale as waste products which will be put to good use by converting them into millions of litres of advanced biofuel.

Celtic Renewables is showcasing the entire world how this can be used to fuel cars with no engine modification required. It is the first time that a car has ever been driven with a biofuel produced from whisky production residues.

Scotland is famous not just for its world-renowned whisky but also for being a powerhouse for renewable energy.

Zeolite Crystal Breakthrough to Boost Biofuel Production from Waste

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) using zeolite crystals to significantly reduce the temperature and energy requirements of converting organic waste into fuel.

According to the researchers, current methods of converting organic waste into fuel are not economically viable due to excessively high temperature energy requirement.

However, the scientists claimed to now be on the brink of solving this problem using a novel catalyst concept with the reaction takes place in very confined spaces inside zeolite crystals.

'World First' Hydrogen-Diesel Dual Fuel Refuse Collection Vehicles for Fife

The world's first dual-fuel refuse collection vehicles, each running on a combination of diesel and hydrogen, and equipped with a fully automatic Allison transmission, are now in service in Scotland.

 

 

Sources:

The Guardian

Celtic Renewables

Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA).

https://waste-management-world.com

https://waste-management-world.com/a/in-depth-zeolite-crystal-breakthrough-to-boost-biofuel-production-from-waste

https://waste-management-world.com/a/adba-report-biogas-from-anaerobic-digestion-powers-1m-uk-homes