Unlocking the potential of grass leaf anaerobic digestion

Traditionally anaerobic digestion (AD) has used feedstock from agricultural outputs or industrial waste. The majority of plants are at the large-scale, feeding their outputs to the grid. This project proposes to use grass as the primary feedstock for a micro-scale AD solution that will be installed on the grounds of SMEs. This is facilitated through a novel process that decreases processing time by a factor of 4-6, and results in a much smaller, low cost plant. Rather than feed the outputs to the grid, we aim to sell the highest value outputs (compressed/ liquid biomethane - CBM/LBM) to the domestic heating/cooking and transport markets. We wish to test the feasibility of our novel grass AD process in a lab environment in order to assess the technical and economic assumptions we have made. We will be offering SMEs additional revenue streams and increasing the profitability of a range of businesses, while simultaneously increasing the indigenous UK biogas and biofuel supply exponentially. We are already testing a similar business model, which is based on small dairy farms in the UK through an Innovate UK grant. This feasibility study, would allow us the opportunity to assess the potential for disruptive diffusion in global mass markets.