Turn London's food waste into energy, report suggests (From Surrey Comet)

Turn London's food waste into energy, report suggests

6:30am Saturday 7th November 2009

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The capital’s rubbish could be used to generate enough energy to power two million homes and provide heat for 625,000 houses, a new report has said.

Producing gas from London’s rubbish could also cut the capital’s carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2m tonnes, a London Assembly study said.

The Where There's Muck There's Brass report also says creating gas from rubbish will help meet government targets to source 15 per cent of the UK's total energy from renewable sources.

The capital produces about 22m tonnes of waste yearly, enough to fill Canary Wharf tower every eight days, the report said.

Half of all that rubbish currently ends up in landfill.

The London Assembly’s environment committee study suggests converting non-recyclable rubbish, such as leftover food. into energy, through means other than incineration, could reduce the amount sent to landfill.

The committee urged London Mayor Boris Johnson to take the lead in developing technologies to convert energy from waste.

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