UK dairy processor continues to develop ‘poo power’ as a renewable energy source

Date: 03.02.2022

A dairy processing company in the UK is trying to develop long-term use of ‘poo power’ instead of diesel to run some of its milk tankers on in a bid to cut its carbon footprint

Truck driver Adrian Fearn, left, with dairy farm Ian Barker

Farmer-owned Arla says it also wants to further use this renewable energy source more in homes and ‘patteries’ following a successful trial last year. That trial saw the company convert the manure from 500 cows into 27,000kg of biofuel to power its delivery trucks and develop a fuel station on one of the farms that supply Arla with milk.

Arla said the three-month trial reduced its carbon impact by 80 tonnes during that time period helping boost the company’s sustainability efforts. This trial marked the first time farmers were able to send their cow manure to a nearby anaerobic digestion plant where it was broken down into different components, including clean bio-methane, and converted into usable fuel.

The trial makes Arla the first UK business to use waste from its own farms to generate power for its fleet. The process also created nutrient-rich, natural fertiliser, which Arla farmers could put back onto farms, making it entirely closed-loop, something that hasn’t been done before.

The three-month test involved two special Arla tankers that had been adapted to run on biofuel transporting milk between dairy processing sites. Together they covered around 90,000km and helped reduce Arla’s carbon impact by 80 tonnes, the equivalent of 23 car journeys around the world.

Proving that muck is just as important as milk, Arla used manure from 500 cows, which is around 190 tonnes of slurry each week, to create the 27,000kg of biofuel to power the trial vehicles.

Arla launched the UK’s first cow-powered fuel station on one of the farms taking part in Winslow, Bucks. "Many of us recognise how valuable a cow’s milk is, but many aren’t aware that manure is just as important," says Arla farmer Ian Barker, who was involved in the trial.

"Processing cow manure in this manner provides us with a limitless source of energy, plus the digestate, or solid matter, left over after the process makes an even richer fertiliser for my fields, so it’s a win-win."

Graham Wilkinson, Arla agriculture director, adds, "Using manure from our farms is helping us reduce our waste and rely less on air-polluting fossil fuels so it’s a no-brainer for us. With the help of our farmers and partners, we have a fully closed-loop, which at scale, could be revolutionary in helping fuel a greener future."

Arla is using the trial to assess opportunities for scaling up poo-powered transport opportunities across its value chain and for other uses of energy. Arla is also investigating the opportunities of using the slurry from its 460,000 cows to power over 1.2 million UK homes each year. It has also created AA-size rechargeable ‘cow patteries’ as an extra renewable energy solution.

Find new and used trucks for sale in NZ

Keep up to date in the industry by signing up to Deals on Wheels' free newsletter or liking us on Facebook.