Green gas (or biomethane) is made from biodegradable materials which can then be used in the same way as energy from fossil fuels – to heat your home or cook with.
Green gas or biomethane is a type of gas that is produced from various organic materials including grass, landfill waste, organic or agricultural waste. The history of green gas goes back to decades when people in rural areas in many parts of the world starting producing this gas using cow dungs at their small farms. After the green gas is produced, it must be refined and then either be used at the site or it can be injected in national grid to be supplied at any site. Green gas has similar characteristics and specification as fossil gas.
Ideally, every business or a household would choose to switch to green gras but as the supply is limited and the demand is growing, it is not yet possible to supply everyone with green gas. There are many business energy suppliers in the UK offering green gas and it is easy to compare green gas prices from these energy suppliers.
Green Gas is produced from a natural process called ‘anaerobic digestion’ whereby organic material/waste is decomposed without the presence of air that produces biomethane. The waste is broken down by the bacteria present in that waste.
As mentioned earlier, there are number of organic materials (organic waste from food/vegetable, animal manure etc.) and the process for each material to produce biomethane is different. However, each process produces carbon dioxide (co2) that needs to be removed to get good quality gas that meets the standards set by the national grid before being injected to that grid.
(An example of producing green gas using leftover vegetables)
There are approximately 580 biomethane power plants. However, the green gas produced by most of these plants is being used at the sites that produces it e.g. farm houses, food processing plants etc. Only 80 biomethane power plants are large enough that inject their green gas to national grid to be supplied all over the UK.
Carbon neutral
Green gas is virtually carbon neutral as compared with the gas extracted from fossils. Extracting and burning gas from fossil fuels reintroduces carbon dioxide int our atmosphere that has been locked away from millions of years resulting in climate damage. On the other hand, green gas or biomethane is produced from organic material that absorbed carbon dioxide and it is burnt, it releases the same amount of carbon dioxide without adding any further CO2 to our atmosphere. That makes it virtually carbon neutral.
Supporting British Farmers
As most of the biomethane power plants are located in rural areas of UK, the gas production and sale provided long-term financial security for British farmers as the sale of green gas opens up a new source of income for them.
Accountability
The Green Gas Certification Scheme (GSCS) tracks green gas from production to supply making sure that businesses or home users that use green gas can track its sources.
It is easy to compare and switch to Green Gas using our smart energy price comparison or call us on 0345 021 5000 and one of our trained energy advisers will show you all the Green Gas products available in the market.
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