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Nick Beaumont-Jones

Flushed with success – heating your home from human waste.

06 Oct 2010 | Filed under: Industry Comment, Sustainability, Technology

Householders in Didcot have become the first in the UK to use gas made from their own human waste and supplied via the national grid to heat their homes, reports BBC News.

Up to 200 Oxfordshire homes will be using biomethane made from sewage they had flushed away three weeks earlier.

British Gas, Thames Water and Scotia Gas Networks now hope to roll out the process across the UK.

According to an EU directive, by 2020 the UK must ensure 15% of the energy it produces comes from renewable sources.

Martin Orrill, head of energy, technology and innovation at British Gas told the BBC News website supplying this type of gas through the national grid was a logical step in the UK’s bid to meet these targets.

He added that customers had no need to feel squeamish but should be proud of taking part in the unusual recycling effort.

“They will not notice any difference as the renewable energy source has no odour, and the infrastructure to deliver the gas is already in place,” he said.

The whole process should take about 23 days from flush to finish.

The practice of using anaerobic digesters – carefully managed bacteria – to turn faeces into a means of generating electricity is already well established across the country.