Green Gasmill submitted into planning in Gloucestershire
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Ecotricity, Britain’s leading green energy company, has submitted a planning application for a Green Gasmill on land between Fiddington and the M5 in Gloucestershire – an investment that will inject £60 million into the local economy and support around 30 jobs.
If the company’s application to Tewkesbury Borough Council is accepted, Ecotricity will invest £10 million to build the Green Gasmill – and for each year of its 20 year operation, the project will put £3m into the local economy through supply contracts and employment.
Using a process called anaerobic digestion, Ecotricity will make green gas from grass harvested from farms surrounding that Green Gasmill – this will be injected straight into the national grid, while a natural fertiliser as a by-product will go back onto farmland.
The Fiddington Green Gasmill will produce enough clean gas to power the equivalent of over 6000 homes every year, and will support local farmers, improve land quality and wildlife habitats.
Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder, said: “The world signed up to limiting a global temperature rise at the Paris Climate Conference last year – as part of that, we simply have to stop burning fossil fuels in the next few decades.
“That’s where green gas comes in – it gives us all the benefits and flexibility of gas as a fuel, but in a carbon neutral way.
“There’s a whole new industry waiting to be created here, which has the potential to be a big part of Britain’s green economy and make a significant contribution to our energy independence – all of these benefits without fracking the countryside.”
Up to eight specialist jobs will be created to run the Green Gasmill, while the new supply contracts with farmers –providing the grass and rye feedstock required to supply the anaerobic digestion process – will also require 20 or more personnel.
Dale continued: “We’ve carried out public consultation over the past few months with the councils, farmers and residents – and we’ve had some very positive feedback.
“There have been concerns too, of course – mostly about the possibility of extra farm traffic on local roads. The planning application addresses these concerns,and we can reassure people that the Green Gasmill will only receive normal farm traffic such as tractors and trailers typical of the countryside, not lorries.
“We’ll ensure deliveries don’t happen during peak traffic times, tractors stick to main roads wherever possible, and even at the busiest times of year, during harvest, feedstock movements will be well within the capacity of the road network.
“Fiddington will be one of the first Green Gasmills we’re looking to build in Britain – one of the first in what will be a green gas revolution in this country.”
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