Energy minister wants cutting-edge combination of recycling centre and biomass power plant at Peterborough to be first of many
The government has given the go-ahead for the first 鈥渆nergy park鈥� in the UK, which will take mixed waste and turn it into renewable energy as well as recovering all the glass, metal and plastics for recycling.
The 80MW facility, to be built at Storey's Gate in Peterborough, will use waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill to generate enough energy to power 60,000 homes and save 600,000 tonnes of CO2 per year
The process has been labelled a 鈥渕agic wand solution鈥� and brings together mechanical recycling, food waste digestion, gasification, and plasma melting - in one location - to provide a zero-landfill solution.
The scheme is being built by Peterborough Renewable Energy and it is hoped will become the first of a nationwide network of such facilities.
Energy and climate change minister David Kidney, who granted the consent, said: 鈥淭he UK needs to generate 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, and energy from biomass could contribute as much as a third of that.
鈥淢eeting our target means we have to follow the East of England's example and build more plants like this.鈥�
The East of England has its own renewable target of 17% by 2020, not including offshore wind, and the plant in Peterborough could deliver 10% of that target for 2010/11.
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