Three new projects that will dramatically reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill in Hertfordshire, Norfolk and South London have been awarded over £300m in investment. As part of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) through Defra, the funding will be used to create major improvements to facilities, with a view to achieving immediate and long-term benefits.
The projects, by Hertfordshire County Council, Norfolk County Council and the South London Waste Partnership, will divert more than 340,000 tonnes of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill when fully operational in coming years.
The total potential carbon emission savings from the projects is around 137,500 tonnes – the equivalent annual output of 43,200 cars – as well as creating more than 100 jobs.
“Reducing our reliance on landfill is an essential part of the drive to tackle climate change and I welcome the ambitious commitment made by these partnerships,” said Environment Minister Jane Kennedy. “This will create a real incentive for the local authorities and industry to work together to reduce waste as well as reducing the environmental impact of landfill.”
Landfill projects get multi-million boost
G20 'is determined to tackle climate change'
MINISTERS insisted the G20 would offer a step-change on the environment today despite claims from green groups that Britain was failing its own duties to tackle global warming.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband claimed that Gordon Brown had achieved a "remarkable" breakthrough in putting climate change on the agenda for the summit this week.
The Treasury and the Department of Energy and Climate Change have been working for weeks on plans to persuade leading nations to sign up to spending billions on green jobs that will help slash greenhouse gas emissions and "embed" low-carbon technologies across the world. G20 nations are working on a deal to pledge to expand their environmental industries by 50 per cent within the next decade.
Mr Miliband said: "One of the remarkable things that our Prime Minister has achieved since the Washington summit is to broaden the agenda, so that it's not just about finance. It's about the economy and about low carbon."
But the Government was embroiled in a dispute with environmentalists after a report claimed that new funding for "green" measures amounted to just 0.6 per cent of its multi-billion-pound plan for stimulating the UK economy.
Research for Greenpeace found that bonuses paid to bankers at the RBS were seven times higher than additional spending on the green economy.
Climate change protesters are set to be among the most vociferous groups in London this week.
FEEDING fish oil to gassy cows can help fight climate change.
More than a third of all the world’s methane emissions, around 900billion tons every year, is generated by gut bacteria in farm animals such as cows, sheep and goats.
By volume, methane is 20 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
A new study suggests that including two per cent fish oil in the diet of cattle can significantly reduce the animals’ methane emissions.
Presenting the findings today at the Society for General Microbiology’s annual meeting in Harrogate, University College Dublin scientist Dr Lorraine Lillis said: “The fish oil affects the methane-producing bacteria in the rumen part of the cow’s gut, leading to reduced emissions.
“Understanding which microbial species are particularly influenced by changes in diet and relating them to methane production could bring about a more targeted approach to reducing methane emissions in animals.”
Fish oil contains omega-3 fatty acids which have been shown to help the heart and circulatory systems of livestock as well as improve meat quality.
