Environment Secretary Owen Paterson today pledged his support for the anaerobic digestion industry in his first major speech since joining the government front bench.
Addressing delegates at an environmental panel session at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham this morning (October 9), Mr Paterson called AD a tremendous concept and pledged to support the growth of the technology.
He also indicated that he would seek to continue the work begun under the governments Red Tape Challenge to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses, claiming that economic growth was key to encouraging improvements in the environment.
In his keynote address, he said: The concept of anaerobic digestion is tremendous. We have a huge amount of food waste that should be used to generate power, rather than being sent to landfill. We must ensure the right measures are applied to the right places to enable that to grow.
Only by creating a healthy and prosperous economy can we improve our environment for future generations. That is why we are determined to improve the infrastructure and let everyone get on with the job.
Development
Mr Paterson also claimed he would not be afraid of major infrastructure projects if there were obvious environmental and economical benefits, but warned that he would not support development that was not appropriate to the needs of its local community.
In a speech that took in topics covering his full range of ministerial responsibilities, Mr Paterson hinted that much of his focus will be on improving the rural economy, including supporting projects to boost broadband and mobile phone reception in rural areas and revealing that the government would be trialling a badger cull to curb cases of bovine tuberculosis.
He also indicated that Defra would seek to work closely with the Department of Energy and Climate Change to set subsidy levels for low carbon energy technology.
Also speaking at the panel session, DECC climate change minister Greg Barker claimed that the government was delivering on its promise to be the greenest government ever, highlighting initiatives such as the Green Investment Bank and Renewable Heat Incentive as evidence.
Mr Barker also addressed critics who had claimed that the government had lost interest in the environment and reiterated his departments support for unburdening businesses from regulation to support growth.
He said: Dont let Labour tell you we arent delivering a greener economy. We wont decarbonise the UK by overburdening the British Economy, which leads to jobs going overseas.
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