Bioenergy and Business

Your business or organisation can enjoy a host of benefits using bioenergy. Bioenergy produced from waste is a green, renewable energy source.

The process is an effective way to manage waste (even if contaminated) and produce heat and electricity efficiently and economically. Discover the full benefits of bioenergy.

Why should a West Midlands business consider using bioenergy? There are a numerous reasons:

Many customers are looking for green suppliers

Today's customers and clients are more aware of the environment and the carbon footprint left by the purchasing choices they make. The use of bioenergy sends a powerful marketing message to your existing customer base and target market.

Bioenergy provides low-cost, green energy

The rising price of energy from traditional sources makes bioenergy a financially attractive proposition not only to major consumers such as factories but also to commercial and large professional businesses in the region.

Bioenergy can reduce your waste disposal costs

The disposal of waste in the West Midlands is becoming an increasing problem. The region is running out of space at landfill sites. This is putting up the cost of waste management, especially with increasing landfill taxes and penalties.

What type of businesses and organisations can benefit from bioenergy?

If your business requires a reasonable amount of heat and electricity to power an office block, a factory, a hospital, university campus, a farm or even a retail park or an industrial estate, then bioenergy could provide you with a cost-effective solution.

How is EBRI supporting businesses in the West Midlands?

EBRI is supporting West Midlands businesses in two ways:

1. Keeping the work in the region

Many UK inventions and innovative processes have seen the associated production involved moved abroad, e.g. MRI equipment designed and pioneered by a prominent Midlands university is now being produced in China.

EBRI has received European Regional Development Funding (ERDF) to promote the use of bioenergy across the West Midlands and ensure that the associated work stays within the region. EBRI is currently putting together a group of local SMEs who will be given the knowledge, expertise and contacts to be part of this high growth market.

2. Bringing innovative bioenergy processes to the region to decrease the cost of energy and waste management

EBRI is dedicated to helping organisations reap the full benefits from utilising bioenergy. These include the cost-effective production of heat and energy as well as the improved disposal of waste.

What are the key benefits of bioenergy?

EBRI’s work focuses on producing bioenergy from waste only. It does not involve the use of biofuels (such as biodiesel) or biocrops. The one exception is energy grass which can be grown in poor quality or contaminated soil and as such does not take land that could be used to grow food. This approach has several advantages:

It produces green energy
It is a truly sustainable energy source
It does not involve incineration
It does not involve growing and harvesting crops
It reduces the amount of waste (including plastics) that needs to go into landfill sites
It can effectively manage contaminated waste
It is a carbon neutral process (it actually removes CO2 from the atmosphere)
The processes main by-product is charcoal (called biochar) which can be used as fertiliser, in the food processing industry and to produce bio-hydrogen.

To discover the full benefits of bioenergy or contact EBRI for more information.