Green energy company Ecotricity has begun construction of a new renewable energy facility which it says will “make gas from grass”.
The Gloucestershire business is building its new £11m “green gas mill” near Reading in Berkshire, with the firm saying it will create 30 jobs and directly contribute £3m into the rural economy.
The mill is scheduled to be fully operational early next year and will be designed to provide gas for 4,000 local homes every year.
Ecotricity, which is run by its founder and chairman of League One football club Forest Green Rovers Dale Vince, said grass provided a “breakthrough alternative” for producing green gas.
It added traditional methods of production involving use of food waste or energy crops which it said posed “sustainability issues and problems with a lack of scale”.
Ecotricity’s green gas mill will be fed by herbal lays, a mix of grass and herbs, sown and grown on farmland next to the plant.
The move comes as the company published a report into the potential for a “national green gas program”, which it said could create 160,000 jobs in the rural economy and contribute £15bn annually.
The report, authored by consultants from Imperial College London, has said there is enough grassland in the UK not involved in food production, to provide gas for all homes.
Researchers also concluded replacing fossil gas on the UK grid with a green alternative would cost “six times” less than a national air source heat pump roll-out to heat homes without carbon emissions, and would not require homeowners to make “significant upgrades” .
Mr Vince said: “This report could not be more timely - we are deep into an energy security crisis that has exacerbated an existing energy price crisis - while we urgently need to deal with the role of energy in the climate crisis anyway.
“The answer is not to throw away our national gas grid and the tens of millions of appliances that use it, imposing vast costs on the public - the answer is simply to change the gas we put into the grid. And carry on as normal.
“Green gas is cheaper, faster and far less wasteful than a switch to heat pumps. And it will work for every home - no exceptions. It will give us a more balanced and diverse outcome in terms of energy supply and form an essential part of the smart grid we need - with gas and electricity grids supporting each other, sharing the energy load of the country.”
In April Mr Vince announced plans to sell Ecotricity and step down as its chief executive to consider a move into politics. Mr Vince told The Times the company has a pipeline of projects that required £2bn of investment.
The businessman said he intended to retain his majority stake in Forest Green Rovers and press on with plans to build a new 5,000 capacity wooden stadium for the club, as part of a major development called Eco Park off junction 13 of the M5 in Gloucestershire.
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