Leading Environmental Consultancy Aqua Enviro has been awarded a £100,000 Government grant for research and development which could help businesses cut waste costs and provide sustainable renewable energy.
Aqua Enviro, a leading specialist in water, wastewater treatment and organic waste, has been coordinating trials with the York Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) and has now received the funding from the Technology Strategy Board.
The company has identified a new process which has the potential to significantly boost the efficiency of an Anaerobic Digestion system known as the microwave hydrolysis process.
Anaerobic Digestion is a process whereby microorganisms break down organic matter without oxygen.
The research Aqua Enviro and BDC have carried out through pretrials show Anaerobic Digestion can be boosted dramatically using the new technology, making more efficient use of biofuel energy.
Paul Lavender, former Business Development Manager at Aqua Enviro, said: “Working collaboratively on this project with the York Biorenewables Development Centre has been a fantastic opportunity for us and we are pleased with the progress we have made in identifying this new technology.
“We believe this technology can produce significant benefits to the Anaerobic Digestion process than currently and to the wider environmental industry in the UK by creating renewable energy and potentially helping businesses make significant savings and cut waste costs.”
Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association, a trade association body who supported the bid, said: “By increasing biogas yields and making new feedstock available, the process developed in this project could improve the viability and sustainability of AD projects, while helping to cut greenhouse gas emissions, boost UK energy security and improve the profitability and sustainability of farming operations.”
Anaerobic Digestion technology has a number of economic and environmental benefits to business, including cutting waste disposal costs which can also help businesses across a wide variety of sectors make significant savings to their energy bills.
For more information please contact Paul Pickard, Technical Sales Manager +44 (0)1924 242255 or paul.pickard@aquaenviro.co.uk
