Launched in Marrakesh, Morocco today (15 November) where the United Nation Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 22 is currently taking place, the World Biogas Association (WBA) has pledged to become the ‘biggest global community demonstrating and delivering the value that anaerobic digestion and biogas contribute across all sectors’.
The organisation has also pledged to highlight the opportunity for AD technologies to contribute to the UNFCCC Commitments on climate change and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
David Newman will serve as president of the WBA, the organisation has announced. Mr Newman currently also serves as president of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), and is managing director of the Bio-Based and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA), which represents companies producing biodegradable polymers.
Commenting on the formation of the WBA, he said: “I am delighted to see this global perspective from the biogas industry. The potential to provide energy security by transforming the millions of tonnes of organic wastes which today are largely unused, is a huge potential indeed. We are part of the Circular Economy, recovering energy and nutrients otherwise lost.
“We are part of the Bio Economy, delivering feedstocks to potential new industries, through Green Chemistry. We are part of the emancipation of communities detached from electric and gas grids, giving them energy autonomy. We are an ingredient of sustainability, delivering nutrients and renewable energy to the planet. And we have no time to lose to make this happen on a global scale.”
Members
Alongside ADBA as founding members of the WBA are Italy’s Compost and Biogas Consortium (CIC) and the American Biogas Council.
ADBA chief executive Charlotte Morton, said: “The establishment of the World Biogas Association will help showcase AD’s ability to meet a huge range of global challenges, and ADBA is delighted to be a founder member of the association.
“Biogas is set to become a cheaper energy source than coal, and AD should become one of the leading technologies for mitigating climate change, improving sanitation, ensuring energy and food security and reducing poverty and hunger.
“Demonstrating the international potential of our technology helps us make the case for national support. The UK could be a global leader in what could become a £1 trillion biogas industry, exporting expertise and equipment worth billions of pounds and creating tens of thousands of jobs.”
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