Human waste turned into renewable gas to power homes | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Human waste turned into renewable gas to power homes | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Next time you flush the toilet, you could be doing your bit for green energy. After being stored for 18 days, human waste will from today be returning to homes in the form of renewable gas. Centrica is opening a plant at Didcot sewage works which will be the first in the UK to produce renewable gas for households to use.

National Grid believes that at least 15% of all gas consumed could be made from sewage slurry, old sandwiches and other food thrown away by supermarkets, as well as organic waste created by businesses such as breweries.

However, there are fears in the industry that the government's spending cuts could make it more difficult for companies to come up with the £10bn needed to develop the new plants and pipelines. Because it is more expensive to produce renewable gas, companies say they need to be paid twice the market rate for it to make economic sense.