World Biogas Association launches

The World Biogas Association (WBA) has been launched at the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 22 in Marrakesh, Morocco.

The WBA is dedicated to supporting the growth of biogas and anaerobic digestion technologies to maximise their contribution to the UNFCCC commitments and the UN’s sustainable development goals.

It invites companies, associations, universities, professionals and other organisations to be part of the biggest global community demonstrating and delivering the value that anaerobic digestion and biogas contribute across all sectors by:

• Reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by around 20%
• Delivering flexible, storable baseload green gas
• Fueling HGVs, buses, tractors and other vehicles
• Reducing and recycling food waste
• Recycling sewage and waste water
• Returning carbon to the farm
• Keeping farmers farming sustainably
• Restoring depleted soils
• Providing energy and biofertiliser to communities and villages in developing countries
• Reducing poverty and hunger.

David Newman, president of the WBA, says, “I am delighted to see this global perspective from the biogas industry. The potential to provide energy security by transforming the millions of tonnes of organic wastes which today are largely unused, is a huge potential indeed. We are part of the circular economy, recovering energy and nutrients otherwise lost. We are part of the bio economy, delivering feedstocks to potential new industries, through green chemistry.”

Chief executive of the UK’s Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA), Charlotte Morton, adds, “The establishment of the World Biogas Association will help showcase AD’s ability to meet a huge range of global challenges, and ADBA is delighted to be a founder member of the association.

“Biogas is set to become a cheaper energy source than coal, and AD should become one of the leading technologies for mitigating climate change, improving sanitation, ensuring energy and food security and reducing poverty and hunger. Demonstrating the international potential of our technology helps us make the case for national support. The UK could be a global leader in what could become a £1 trillion biogas industry, exporting expertise and equipment worth billions of pounds and creating tens of thousands of jobs.”