UK grocer Waitrose said in 2021 it would use its farm on the Leckford Estate in Hampshire to facilitate radical environmentally-focused change by experimenting with greener agricultural techniques – and this week it showed off one innovative example of that plan in action.
Green Retail World was in attendance as the John Lewis Partnership (JLP)-owned supermarket chain unveiled its biomethane plant, which enables the retailer to capture the methane from cow manure for use as fuel in its tractors.
Waitrose said the use of biomethane gas will reduce the Leckford Estate’s carbon footprint by up to 1,300 tonnes a year, as it will, ultimately mean the farm does not need to use fossil fuels to run its tractors. At present, Waitrose is using one biomethane tractor on site, but it plans for all of its six tractors on the site to run on this alternative fuel in due course.
The retailer said it wants to prove to its grocery suppliers that the innovative process, which turns cow manure into fuel using technology from clean energy company Bennamann and is then utilised in tractors manufactured by New Holland, works. Over time, it then intends to work with its wider supply chain to help support the wider distribution of this system, so that other farms can reduce their carbon footprint.
It has cost Waitrose circa £600,000 to set up the facility, and the tractors which run on compressed natural gas (CNG) are priced at around £130,000. But with the right financing and support to create the relevant infrastructure, Waitrose believes these costs will come down over time and make it a viable option for other farms in its supply chain to follow on the biomethane path.
How the biomethane plant works
Manure produced by the 500 cattle kept at the farm is harvested and upgraded on site, producing what is known as “fugitive” biomethane.
A covered lagoon, which is the size of two and half Olympic-sized swimming pools, has been built to harbour the gas extracted from mixing cow manure with water and hay in Bennamann’s system. During the extraction process, the solid material emerges as a digestate which is rich in nutrients and can be used as fertiliser for crops, while the gas from the fluid created is trapped, cleaned, and upgraded to be used to power CNG-adapted tractors.
The process also leaves behind a natural fertiliser, which Waitrose said can be pumped directly back onto the fields.
The CNG fuel produced can be stored in cannisters that can be inserted into the New Holland tractors, replacing the need for diesel and effectively making them GHG-emission-free.
Why is Waitrose doing this?
One year ago, JLP unveiled its Plan for Nature, which is an all-encompassing strategy in partnership with environmental group WWF to ramp up more regenerative farming techniques and work towards becoming a business that protects the natural ecosystem as opposed to simply taking resources from it.
Part of that commitment involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural processes on its farm at Leckford to reach net zero on the site this decade.
Earlier this year, JLP claimed to be the “first retailer in the world” to set validated science-based targets on reducing greenhouse gases originating from forests, land, and agriculture. Working with the Science Based Targets initiative, the retail group now has a range of ambitious goals to improve its environmental position – and work such as the biomethane plant will support the business in achieving those aims.
Andrew Hoad, head of Leckford Estate and part of the Waitrose commercial team, said: “This is a new era for Leckford Estate farm.
“We understand the positive impact farming can have on addressing the effects of climate change and nature loss. Reduction in use of fossil fuels and capturing fugitive methane are an important part of us becoming carbon net zero as a farm, ahead of our 2035 Partnership goal.”
He added: “This sits as part of our wider move to regenerative farming and our ambition is to make Leckford a centre of excellence for regenerative farming practices where we can innovate, learn and share with others to help others adopt practices that help nature’s recovery and mitigate the impacts of climate change.”
Waitrose acknowledged that if, over time, the company is going to ask its farmers to make certain moves to reduce their carbon footprint then it needs to do the research and development itself beforehand.
The future
Waitrose has committed to continue investing in cutting-edge farming practices, and works with organisations such as the Small Robot Company to help it move towards “precision farming”, which effectively means using data to make informed decisions.
Other elements of its regenerative farming plans include creating better habitats for wildlife, adopting 12-year regenerative crop rotation, building soil organic matter, improving hedges and planting trees, and generally reducing energy consumption and removing fossil fuels from operations.
Importantly, rather than focusing this all on the 2,500 acres of land it farms at Leckford, which it has owned since 1929, the biggest impact from this work will come in Waitrose passing on its knowledge to the farming community.
For example, the creation of biomethane gas could generate additional revenue or cost savings for farmers through the sale of excess biomethane or making their own 100% natural fertiliser as a byproduct. The fuel can also be converted into electricity, which could be used for charging electric vehicles and equipment.
Waitrose itself runs most of its distribution fleet on CNG, so there is a growing market for this as an alternative fuel to diesel and petrol.
The retailer said it welcomes government grants, such as the Slurry Infrastructure Grant, noting that the scale of change required to achieve the country’s net zero targets will rely on a combination of private and public finance. It added that its new biomethane facility has been designed to meet the requirements of the Slurry Infrastructure Grant which may help livestock farmers interested in adopting the technology on their farms.
What’s everyone saying about it?
Michael Simpson, Bennamann CEO, said: “This partnership and investment into cutting-edge farming practises like our bespoke biomethane facility, has enabled the development of our next generation retrofit methane capture ecosystem.
“JLP’s support has been instrumental in the development of our new retrofit slurry cover and methane capture technology, making it even more affordable to the small to medium-sized dairy farmers, who can generate additional revenue or cost savings through the sale of excess biomethane or making their own 100% natural fertiliser as a byproduct.”
Alistair Walshaw, New Holland UK alternative propulsions manager, said: “New Holland has a long-standing commitment to sustainability and our ‘clean energy leader’ strategy started back in 2006.
“Today, we are happy to see that more and more partners are supporting this important cause, providing a way to maximise productivity while reducing the farms’ carbon footprint. The collaboration with Waitrose is a strong statement that we hope others will follow, and will raise more and more awareness on the importance of sustainability in farming.”
The Rt Hon Lord Benyon, Department for Environment & Rural Affairs minister, who was on site to officially open the new facility, commented: “Waitrose’s new biomethane facility really showcases the power of British businesses coming together to unlock innovative ways of helping to reduce carbon emissions in farming and tackle climate change.”
Simon Winch, head of environment at JLP, told Green Retail World: “With net zero strategy, we need to be speaking not just to people’s hearts and minds but to the bottom line as well.
“The biomethane plant is a great example of something that can save us money, has really good pay back, and solves multiple problems we have to deal with – for example, we have to cover over our slurry lagoons by 2027 anyway.”
Money will be saved, he said, because the digestate can be used instead of purchasing new fertiliser, and the process is producing its own fuel, which means diesel expenditure is no longer required.
“We have a responsibility to make this real and tangible, moving away from what for many is an abstract concept of climate change to showing what we can all do to make a differece. We have demonstrated the tech works, so if we can get our wider supply chain to adopt this it will help the financial viability of farmers, it will deal with waste and turn it into a valuable product, and in so doing it will help the planet.”
Winch noted that with Waitrose owning its own farm it “has a license to play, take risks, and experiment”.
“We can underwrite the risk of this investment in a way a small farm might not be able to and prove the comcept,” he explained.
“Now we know we have a concept that works we can work with our suppliers and they can work with farmers to understand how we can scale this. The barriers to scaling this are around awareness and finance.”
Winch estimated it is possible to cut the price of installing a biomethane plant on an average size farm by half of what Waitrose invested (to approximately £300,000).
“That is a still a lot of money, so how can we as Waitrose, the government, and private finance speed up the adoption of this and overcome the up-front costs? We need to be able to bring everyone along with us and make the investment farmers need, and we can do that by banks, policy makers and businesses working together.”
[Image credits: Green Retail World]
