Uni green tech spin-out aims to improve outcomes of biogas-bioenergy sector

A new Lancaster University spin-out business is set to tackle long-standing problems holding back the biogas-bioenergy sector.

ADTechOptima, formed by researchers from the Lancaster Environment Centre and Lancaster University’s School of Engineering, is focused on developing two groundbreaking anaerobic digestion technologies.

Anaerobic digesters convert organic waste, such as food waste and sewage, into biogas for electricity production.

There are currently around 650 anaerobic digestion plants in the UK alone. However, many plants under-perform.

By addressing inefficiencies in anaerobic digestion, ADTechOptima’s innovations have the potential to create a significant impact on both energy productivity and waste management.

With growing concerns about climate change and the environmental toll of landfill waste, these new technologies, created at Lancaster University, could offer a cleaner, more sustainable solution for the future.

ADTechOptima’s technologies aim to solve two key problems – the underperformance of anaerobic digesters and the quality of the ‘digestate’ produced as part of the process. Digestate is a nutrient-rich substance that can be used as a fertiliser.

The first solution the company is developing is an additive that enables digesters to remain operationally reliable at much higher through-puts of organic waste.

Dr Bushan Gandhi, CEO of ADTechOptima, said: “The anaerobic digestion process comprises a finely balanced microbial eco-system which breaks down organic matter, converting it into biogas and digestate.

“Maintaining this biochemical balance is a major challenge for operators. Unfortunately, should the balance be lost, the process can fail catastrophically. This apparent ‘instability’ severely limits the productivity of anaerobic digesters and can lead to protracted outages with substantial losses of revenue and additional costs.”

Anaerobic digester

The scientists at ADTechOptima believe the benefits of applying their bespoke additive, which improves digester stability, will range from greater reliability to dramatically increased revenue opportunities for digester operators.

The company’s second technology is a process which addresses the quality of digestate produced by anaerobic digesters by destroying the pathogens that are endemic to organic wastes.

This is achieved without the intensive energy demanded by the pasteurisation and UHT processes that are currently standard in the anaerobic digestion sector. The ADTechOptima team says benefits from their process will range from dramatically reduced energy requirements for removing pathogens through to more diverse, higher value markets for the digestate product.

The team at ADTechOptima has proved their concepts at a lab scale and the company has now secured a £300,000 Innovate UK ICURe Exploit grant from Innovate UK to demonstrate and begin the commercialisation of the technologies.

This funding builds on previous support the company received through the Innovate UK ICURe Explore programme to assess market potential for their technologies.

The new funding will also support the company to work in partnership with local anaerobic digester operator Cockerham Green Energy to demonstrate their technologies at pilot scale.

Dr Gandhi said: “The Government has made a commitment to work towards the ‘near elimination’ of organic matter going to landfill by 2028. But improvements to processes for anaerobic digestors will be key to meeting these targets.

“The Innovate UK grant enables us to scale our technologies through pilot trials and early adopter studies, bringing us closer to full commercialisation.”

He added: “Together these technologies offer the potential for a transformative improvement in anaerobic digestion biogas production efficiency and the recovery of severely failed digesters.

“Our goal is to make a significant contribution to the production of clean, affordable energy while supporting the UK’s commitment to net zero, combating climate change and reducing the amount of organic waste going to landfill.”

The technologies ADTechOptima is looking to commercialise arose initially from RECIRCULATE and ACTUATE – international research and knowledge-exchange programmes led by researchers at Lancaster University which addressed issues of building circular economies for water in countries in Africa and Asia.

Dr Gandhi worked as a PhD student on RECIRCULATE with Lancaster Professors Alastair Martin and Kirk Semple, who are also part of the team behind ADTechOptima. His work on RECIRCULATE involved investigating ways to boost the effectiveness of anaerobic digestion to provide solutions for beneficial waste disposal in West African countries.