DEPARTMENT FOR
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS News Release (292/08) issued by
COI News Distribution Service. 4 September 2008
Innovative
technology which turns organic matter into biogas - a renewable
source of energy and a transport fuel - could play an important
part in helping farmers meet strict new environmental rules,
Environment Minister Phil Woolas said today.
From January 2009 farmers will have to step up action to cut the
amount of nitrates from fertiliser that gets into rivers. This
will include restricting the times of year that fertiliser can be
spread on land and storing excess manure outside these times.
Treating the manure in on-farm anaerobic digestion plants while
it is being stored could produce biogas, which farmers could use
as a source of energy. The treated manure can be returned to the
soil as fertiliser.
Phil Woolas acknowledged that there are still hurdles to be
overcome, saying:
"Tackling pollution from agriculture is central to boosting
the quality of our water environment. Left unchecked it can have
serious effects on local rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal
waters, and the plant life and wildlife that depend on those.
"Anaerobic digestion is an exciting and innovative
technology, and it is clear we are not making full use of its
potential. I know from talking to the farming industry that there
are barriers to enabling its wider take up by farmers and
that's something I have promised to look at."
Defra ministers met around fifty senior industry and
non-government organisation executives in July to discuss ways of
increasing the use of anaerobic digestion, and delegates agreed to
work with government and each other to overcome barriers to
increasing its capacity in this country. A follow up meeting later
this year will review progress.
Notes for Editors
1. The Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008 (SI2349
September 2008) implement the Nitrates Directive in England. Defra
consulted on draft changes to the existing regulations last
August. Defra's response to the consultation and information
on wider nitrates issues can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/Environment/water/quality/nitrate/default.htm.
2. The Nitrates Directive was adopted in Europe in 1991 and is
the main policy mechanism available to Defra for tackling water
pollution caused by nitrogen from agricultural sources. It
requires farmers within Nitrate Vulnerable Zones to follow an
Action Programme of measures aimed at controlling when, where,
how, and in what amount, nitrogen can be applied to land. Areas
are identified as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones on the basis that they
drain to waters which have, or are likely to have, nitrate levels
above 50 mg per litre, or that they are eutrophic or likely to
become eutrophic.
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