GMB backs biomethane plans

COW dung could help to heat millions of UK homes and support tens of thousands of jobs, it is claimed.

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Cattle farming - and the greenhouse gas methane that the animals produce - has been blamed for fuelling environmental harm. The creatures also create a lot of something else: manure.

This byproduct is now increasingly being put to work through the production of biomethane that can be pumped into the gas network. It is produced in anaerobic digesters, which are essentially sealed artificial stomach that process organic material such as agricultural waste and food waste.

Reports suggest there are already around 130 plants across the country producing enough biomethane to power about one million homes. Once the number that under development are added, the figure of homes increases to 1.2 million. Two neighbouring villages in Somerset with a combined 1,400 residents - Nether Stowey and Over Stowey - have been supplied with biomethane for the past decade.