Sustainable Energy in Herriard
In Hampshire, only a small fraction of our energy demand is met using local renewable resources, and the energy from fossil fuels, often imported from overseas, has a significant negative effect on our climate. The DECC 2014 report for UK energy statistics indicates that more than 90% of all the energy used in Hampshire comes from burning fossil fuels which produces in excess of 28 million tonnes of CO2 per year. If there was a shift in approach to producing energy cleanly and locally, this would not only create jobs but also increase energy security and resilience of the county and protect the environment. Herriard is more involved in this than most areas of the county.
Fryingdown Solar Park
Built in 2011 as one of the first dozen in the UK, this 27 acre site off Busheywarren Lane was leased by Herriard Estate to Alectron Investments as a solar farm. The panels generate 5 MW of renewable energy for the regional grid, with sheep grazing underneath. Each year enough power is produced for over 1500 homes and saving over 2,000 tonnes of CO2. This is now owned by John Laing Environmental assets Group https://jlen.com/ which has a portfolio of renewable energy assets.
Busheywarren AD Plant
Anaerobic Digestion is the process by which organic matter such as animal or food waste is broken down in the absence of oxygen to produce biogas and biofertiliser. This process happens in a sealed, oxygen-free tank called an anaerobic digester and the gas is either added to the national gas grid or burnt to generate power. What’s left at the end is a nutrient rich biofertiliser which is pasteurised to kill any pathogens, and then stored in tanks ready to be applied on farmland in place of fossil fuel derived fertiliser. Every tonne of food waste recycled by anaerobic digestion as an alternative to landfill prevents between 0.5 and 1.0 tonne of CO2 entering the atmosphere. This plant also uses crops from local farms, which are grown with the bio-fertiliser coming from the process. The site is now owned and run by RKE Group – an international AD plant specialist.
Veolia Green waste recycling at Bushywarren Lane, Herriard
Composting is nature’s way of recycling. Composting biodegrades organic waste turning it into a valuable fertiliser. Veolia are a major waste handling business who collect green waste from business operations, civic amenity sites or through kerbside collections across Hampshire and elsewhere. The waste then undergoes a composting process in purpose built composting facilities, which takes nearly six months. The composted material is trademarked Pro-Grow and available across the UK and is also used to improve soil quality on farms. Veolia operates five Open Windrow Composting sites in the UK, processing over 100,000 tonnes of green and garden wastes each year, and the largest in the UK is at Herriard. https://www.veolia.co.uk/about-us/veolia-uk/recycling-reuse-and-treatment-facilities/composting-facilities
Biomass heating and wood chip
Much of the UK’s smaller timber was in the past wasted, but government initiatives have created a thriving Biomass woodchip heating sector. Herriard Estate helped set up the local Hampshire Woodfuel Coop – http://www.hwfc.co.uk/ which is now supplying selling nearly £150,000 a year of wood chip from local timber for large domestic boilers. On a larger scale at the Avenue Depot (opposite the garden centre) wood is stored and chipped by LC Energy – https://www.lcenergy.co.uk/ to power Heathrow terminal 4 and several other major Biomass heating sites.