Massive new gas ‘field’ discovered in Britain

Ecotricity, the world’s first green energy company, who pioneered the use of the wind and sun to make green electricity in Britain - has begun construction of its latest renewable energy innovation - a green gasmill, which will make gas from grass.

It’s first of a kind gasmill is now being built near Reading in Berkshire. Once fully operational in early 2023, it will provide all the gas needs of 4000 local homes - every year. Traditional methods of making green gas involve use of food waste or energy crops - both have sustainability issues and problems with a lack of scale. Grass is a breakthrough alternative.

Ecotricity’s green gasmill will be fed by herbal leys - a mix of grass and herbs, sown and grown on farmland next to the plant.

Green gasmills do not require agricultural land and do not compete with food production. Costing £11 million to build, Ecotricity’s first green gasmill will create 30 jobs and directly contribute £3m into the rural economy.

Ecotricity has also released a new white paper on the potential for Green Gas in Britain. Authored by independent academics from Imperial College London Consultants, the report reveals the potential that a national Green Gas program would have:

• There is enough grassland in Britain, not involved in food production to provide gas for all homes

• A national program to achieve this would create 160k jobs in the rural economy and contribute £15bn annually

• The UK could make all the gas it needs to home and business use – if meat production was reduced by 10% and land was used to grow grass. Such a reduction would be well under the historical trend and targets set by government advisors to enable transition to net zero

• Green gas made this way can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 90% when compared to the current use of North Sea gas and synthetic fertilisers. Green gasmills produce a natural fertiliser as a by-product.

The report also highlights the significant shortcomings of the government’s national air source heat pump roll-out – it’s alternative plan for heating homes without carbon emissions. Such a plan would cost six times as much as a green gas roll out – partly due to the need to triple renewable electricity generation, and significantly upgrade the grid to deliver it. The plan would also require the scrapping of millions of gas devices – boilers and cookers, as well as the UK gas grid. Currently, it costs £8,000 per home to install a heat pump – which also adds more than 40% to the overall energy bill of each household that uses one instead of gas. The report also flags that heat pumps will not work for 20% of British homes at all – while a further 20% of homes will need significant upgrades.