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Get your free copy19 July 2017, 04:40 AM
- Essex-based artisan crisp company and potato producer, Fairfields Farm, has opened a new anaerobic digester, which the business believes makes it the UK's only hand-cooked crisp company powered solely by renewable energy
Occupying the space of about ten football fields, the new anaerobic digester (AD plant) has taken two years to plan and construct and is located on Fairfields Farm in Wormingford, Colchester - right next to the potato farm and crisp factory.
An AD plant digests organic matter (waste potatoes and crops such as maize and rye) and trillions of microorganisms anaerobically digest this to create gas. This gas is collected, filtered and then exported to the national grid. A gas turbine is also on site, which produces electricity to power the crisp factory, potato pack-house, cold storage and offices. The gas produced for the grid provides enough power for 4,000 homes. The AD process also produces organic digestate which is high in nutrients and is ideal for spreading back on the fields to help soil structure and fertility on the farm.
Robert Strathern, founder of Fairfields Farm said, “Minimising our environmental impact is very important to us. We’ve always made efforts to reduce waste and be as energy efficient as possible, so the new AD plant will allow us to fully realise our green potential.
“Apart from the obvious environmental benefits, the building of this AD plant will also enable us to better manage our power supply and remove the risk of future fluctuations in the energy market. This keeps us commercially lean and enables us to be viable and competitive well into the future.”
