Hansard

Deputy Presiding Officer, I wish you and other members a happy new year, and I welcome everyone back following recess. I thank the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association for its briefing and for its work with me on many occasions ahead of the debate; its expertise has been invaluable.

I am pleased to lead this members’ business debate, which recognises the significant contribution that anaerobic digestion and biogas can make to Scotland’s transition to net zero. Agriculture plays a huge role in my South Scotland region, as 48 per cent of Scotland’s dairy herd is in the south-west, so there is potential for AD to make a big difference in communities across the south and throughout rural Scotland—it could be transformational for those communities.

It is interesting that not a single Conservative member—including Conservative members who represent people in rural areas—has supported my completely apolitical motion.

Anaerobic digestion is a proven technology. It takes organic material such as food waste, agricultural residues such as slurry and distillery by-products and breaks that down in the absence of oxygen—that is the only time that I will talk slurry in the debate this evening. The process of anaerobic digestion produces biogas and biomethane—a direct substitute for fossil gas—and a nutrient-rich digestate that can be used as sustainable fertiliser. Heat is also a co-product. In short, anaerobic digestion supports a circular economy by turning waste into energy and valuable resources.

The technology has been there for decades, but it is only now that it has advanced to the point at which the large-scale deployment of small-scale AD plants is economically and technically feasible. Scotland is already one of the world’s leaders in rolling out AD, but we have the potential to go much further.

More than 90 AD plants are already in operation across the country, delivering 60MW of fully renewable electricity and processing more than 5 million tonnes of organic waste. That is 5 million tonnes that is saved from landfill and used for good rather than generating harmful methane emissions. The potential to increase that figure substantially through AD investment is huge and could help to transform our communities in many different ways.

Every council is already obligated to collect and treat food waste from households, which provides a ready and sustainable supply of material for AD in urban areas, but it is the potential for AD in rural areas that is really a game changer. Harnessing the potential of Scotland’s dairy herd by building small-scale AD facilities on or near farms could reduce methane emissions by the equivalent of 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, which would be another step in making Scotland a carbon-neutral nation.

In my region, Crofthead farm near Crocketford provides a prime example of what can be done. I know that the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy has visited Crofthead—in the past couple of years, I think—and that the First Minister visited at this time last year. The farm is working hard with the industry-leading Carbon Removers to install a facility that is capable of processing up to 100,000 tonnes of waste a year, producing 8MW of electricity and returning fertiliser as the primary by-product. Maybe we should rename those by-products “co-products”, because they are not just by-products.

By locating such facilities in the heart of farming communities, we can improve local resilience and help our agricultural businesses, as well as reducing demand on the main gas grid. A widespread roll-out of AD could mean rural Scotland getting access to local gas networks, which would mean that, for the first time, communities could move from bottled gas or heating oil to long-term grid connections. That would be a win-win for rural Scotland.

Rolling out anaerobic digestion technology is a perfect example of a just transition. If we took full advantage of the opportunities that are open to us, more than 60,000 jobs could be created across these isles in the decades to come. If Scotland continues to lead the way, we can claim more than our share of those jobs of the future.

That headline figure belies the fact that those jobs will be concentrated in more rural areas, where the technology is deployed and where the fuel sources are. Five or 10 jobs created to maintain and install the tech might be a drop in the ocean in the central belt, but for fragile rural economies, those skilled jobs could help to turbocharge demand and provide a long-term sustainable basis for future jobs in other sectors.

To unlock that potential, we need targeted policy support, planning reform, grid access, low-cost finance and pragmatic regulation. I support the calls for the Scottish Government to consider creating a biogas champion to ensure cross-portfolio collaboration. I am not wedded to the title of biogas champion, but the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association has referred to the AD industry as naebody’s child, so I think that it would be worth exploring what we can do to improve knowledge of and access to AD across the whole of Scotland.

I thank the cabinet secretary for being present to respond to the debate and for her recent response to my correspondence on the issue. I am extremely keen to hear her summing up on behalf of the Government. As the First Minister has said in the past, net zero should not be seen as being purely about energy policy—it crosses portfolios and responsibilities across the spectrum of our society.

Embedding AD technology and installation into agribusiness is a win not just for our energy policy ambitions but for small businesses, employment in rural areas and economic development; for tackling rural depopulation and demographic challenges; and for the future of public services in those communities—in short, across the board in public policy.

If I sound like an evangelist on the issue, it is because I see the huge potential at our fingertips to build a fairer and greener Scotland, embedded in our rural communities and securing a better future for the people there. I am, therefore, keen to hear from the Government what more can be done to incentivise the expansion of these facilities in order to help Scotland lead the way on anaerobic digestion and biogas.

Anaerobic digestion and biogas are ready now, and they deliver meaningful carbon savings, renewable energy and circular economy benefits immediately. Investing in AD is one of the lowest-cost greenhouse gas removal pathways available to us, so let us seize the opportunity to meet our climate targets, boost our rural economy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.