Charlotte Morton addresses International Biogas Congress in Brussels
WBA Chief Executive Charlotte Morton addressed an audience of 350 delegates from across the world as Chair and speaker at the International Biogas Congress in Brussels on 5th – 6th June.
Charlotte was invited to introduce the whole event in addition to taking part in a session on delivering the full potential of biogas by 2030. She took the opportunity to highlight the contribution that anaerobic digestion and biomethane can make towards achieving not only climate change objectives but also increased energy security.
“The energy crisis – worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – has woken Governments to the importance of energy independence” she said. “AD and biogas are a reliable green alternative to fossil fuels that helps countries decarbonise the hardest to decarbonise sectors of heat, transport, waste management and agriculture. Many countries have now realised that investing in biogas/biomethane is common sense in their efforts to improve their energy independence, especially from Russia.
“Soaring energy prices have also induced a fertilisers crisis“, she continued. “We are facing a 20% decline in supply that is forecast to last for several years. This has also impacted the production of CO2, which is used across industries. This has in turn fuelled demand for bio-CO2 from AD.
In such turbulent times, all AD’s products have a key role to play in alleviating these crises. What is more, we generate them by recycling organic wastes and preventing them from emitting methane helping address the greatest crisis before us: the climate crisis.”
She then referred to WBA research in highlighting how recycling the 105bn tonnes of organic waste generated annually by human activity could reduce global methane emissions by 10% by 2030, and the resounding endorsements of the UNFCCC and Climate and Clean Air Coalition for anaerobic digestion and biogas technology as valuable solution to today’s global environmental challenges. Not to mention the millions of jobs our industry would create.
