| Energy
Farm sustainability assessment
On-farm anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities obtain
financial support through OFGEM’s Renewable Heat
Incentive (RHI) or Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs). AD plants are
required to comply with sustainability legislation which
involves sustainable farm management and influences
how crops are cultivated.
ynertree is a
specialist
engineering firm
that works with
farms across the
UK. They specialise
in energy/sustainability audits and
carbon footprints of farms and
renewables. As a leading
sustainability supplier to the AD
industry Synertree has unparalleled
knowledge of compliance under the
RHI, FIT, RTFO and RO.
Synertree offers energy audits to
farms to benchmark energy use,
reduce costs, and improve farm
efficiency. Carbon footprints assist
in understanding the impact of their
operations and identifies emission
reduction opportunities. As
Government policy rapidly moves
towards low carbon industries and
sustainability linked incentives,
understanding the opportunities
and risks to your farming business
is crucial.
Having worked with over 100 AD
plants and farms across the UK,
Synertree have developed bespoke
S
strapped, access to sufficient
financial support is a key factor in
their buying of new or improved kit
and equipment.
The regulators also can
motivate operators to go beyond
basic compliance and achieve
higher standards. We continue to
work closely with the UK
environmental regulators to
understand how they can reward
operators who achieve certification
under the ADCS; after all, if these
operators are meeting all required
standards, are lower-risk and are
reducing the regulators’ efforts
and costs, why should they not
benefit from discounted
subsistence fees or reduced
inspection frequency? We are
pleased that the Environment
www.farmingmonthly.co.uk
Agency appears to be continuing
to work on this and we will do all
we can to ensure it follows
through.
At a broader level, we are also
working with Defra to ensure that
the emissions-reduction benefits of
AD are recognised in the
government’s proposed new
support system for farmers in
England (see my colleague
Charlotte Morton’s article on page
35 of the April issue of Farming
Monthly).
If you want to hear more about
best practice and innovation in the
AD sector, don’t miss UK AD &
World Biogas Expo on 11-12th
July. You can register your free
place at biogastradeshow.com.
tools to measure and manage
energy and carbon. They have a
vast database that is used to assess
farms, AD plants, and other
operations to provide farm or facility
managers with very useful
appraisals of farm management,
performance, and energy/carbon
data. This is essential for
compliance for OFGEM schemes
but also of significant use to better
understanding your business.
If you would like to find out more
about on-farm renewables, energy
audits, carbon footprints, OFGEM
compliance, farming sustainability
or related areas then please
contact Synertree for a free
consultation:
E: [email protected]
T: +44 (0) 7815 152 594
W: www.synertree.co.uk
1.https://www.sciencedirect.com/scie
n ce/article/pii/S0301421515300756
2.https://www.sciencedirect.com/scie
nce/article/pii/B97800810103650000
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July 2018 | Farming Monthly | 43