Green tech company looking to help clean up River Wye catchment
© David Hughes/Adobe Stock A green technology company has set out its plans to build a number of “hubs” in the Wye Valley, aiming to convert the area’s considerable supply of poultry litter into biochar – a slow release fertiliser.
The company, Onnu, says it has already demonstrated the efficacy of the “pyrolysis” process on the ground in Namibia – combusting organic matter in the absence of oxygen to produce biochar.
See also: New ‘roadmap’ from poultry processor to clean up River Wye
It now plans to bring the technology to the Wye Valley, with the aim of setting up 16 hubs in the next four years which, it says, would buy poultry litter from farmers as a feedstock for the process.
While there are “no spades in the ground yet”, company spokesman Iain Halpin says the company has identified four sites – all within striking distance of several poultry farms.
It is currently working towards the acquisition of two of these sites and will set about applying for planning permission in the coming months.
Mr Halpin said he was optimistic this would be obtainable, since the operation would be creating more than 100 “green” jobs in the area, and helping to deal with a huge environmental challenge.
Revenue stream
Onnu chief executive Giles Welch said: “By using this waste biomass as a pyrolysis feedstock, we turn a problem into a revenue stream for local farmers.
“The resulting biochar will be used as a safe and transportable organic fertiliser, forming part of a circular economy in UK agriculture.”
The sites would be self-contained, he added, with underground storage and creating no discernible noise.
Each hub would be able to process 10,000t of poultry litter a year, Onnu claims, converting it into biochar which could be spread on the land as a slow-release fertiliser which would not be prone to run-off.
Pyrolisis would also lock the carbon dioxide into the biochar, avoiding release into the atmosphere.
The company says it has started talking to farmers in the area and wants to work with poultry processors.