The Time is Now - Part 1
In our three-part series, The Time is Now, we focus on the urgency around creating energy independence for AD plant operators and the communities they serve. After a decade of unprecedented fuel price volatility and geopolitical shocks, waiting is no longer a business strategy. This series explores how forward-thinking operators are taking control of their own energy supply, stabilising their costs, and driving a new circular model of fuel production.
Part 1: From Food Waste to Fuel Hub with ALG Biogas
Some innovations are worth waiting for.
“We’ve been looking for something like this for ages – a small-scale upgrader and refuelling system“, says the team behind ALG Biogas in Omagh, Northern Ireland. By investing in Bennamann’s CAPCH4TM biogas-to-biomethane technology, ALG Biogas has successfully bypassed global supply chain headaches to unlock a revolutionary, localised energy model. But why this technology, and why right now?
The Core Philosophy: If Not Now, When?
Look back at the last decade. It has been a stark lesson in volatility for business owners. From geopolitical conflicts and global supply chain shocks to unpredictable inflation, fuel prices have fluctuated wildly. For any business reliant on diesel, operating under the constant threat of the next global energy crisis is no longer sustainable.
Waiting for the fuel market to “stabilise” is a losing strategy. The market isn’t going to settle.
That is why we call this series The Time is Now. It is a call to action born out of necessity. If business owners don’t take control of their own energy supply today, when will they? The technology exists, the proof of concept is on the ground, and the risk of doing nothing far outweighs the cost of investment.
ALG Biogas looked at the landscape of uncertainty and chose a different path: total energy independence.
…the risk of doing nothing far outweighs the cost of investment.
The Challenge: Unlocking Wasted Headroom
ALG Biogas is a masterclass in multi-sector diversification. Alongside their Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant, the group operates a busy dairy farm and a concrete products manufacturing business.
While the AD plant was already performing well (successfully exporting 500 kWe of electricity to the grid) the team knew they were leaving value on the table. The plant’s raw biogas output sits at 250 m³/hr, leaving significant “headroom” (surplus gas) that wasn’t being fully utilised.
In an era where fossil fuel costs can spike overnight due to events thousands of miles away, the motivation for their next move was firmly commercial: how do you insulate your business from global volatility by capturing what is currently going to waste?
The Solution: The Bennamann CAPCH4TM Fuel Hub
The answer lay in upgrading that surplus biogas into something far more valuable than electricity and heat alone: vehicle-grade biomethane (Bio-CNG).
By introducing the compact Bennamann CAPCH4TM biogas to biomethane fuel system, ALG Biogas has transformed their Omagh site into a self-sustaining circular fuel hub. Instead of buying expensive fossil diesel from external suppliers and crossing their fingers that prices don’t spike, the group now harvests its own transport fuel straight from the AD plant.
It is a closed-loop system where waste directly powers the logistics of the businesses that produced or managed it.
The fuel hub currently services the group’s own heavy-duty fleets, including:
- Haulage Trucks: Moving heavy concrete products to customers.
- Agriculture: A specialised New Holland T7.270 methane power tractor dedicated entirely to digestate haulage.
Biogas derived from organic waste is upgraded to biomethane and is actively displacing diesel. It is a closed-loop system where waste directly powers the logistics of the businesses that produced or managed it.
Stats at a Glance
Feedstock: Organic waste provides the primary input for the plant.
Existing output: The AD plant already exports 500 kWe of electricity to the grid.
Biogas capacity: Raw biogas production is 250 m³/hr, with substantial headroom for future growth.
Fuel production: The fuel hub produces 140,000 kg of Bio-CNG each year.
Stop Delaying: Sweat the Asset
For the team in Omagh, this initial success is just the launchpad. Because the Bennamann system allows them to scale, their long-term ambition is to “sweat the plant harder,” aggressively harnessing the remaining biogas headroom to increase Bio-CNG yields.
The message from ALG Biogas’s success is clear to every other AD plant operator out there: stop waiting.
We have endured a decade of warning signs from the traditional energy sector. The blueprint for self-sufficiency is right here. It is a textbook demonstration of the circular economy in practice: waste in, vehicle fuel out, minimised overheads, and a brand-new revenue stream locked in.
The technology is here, the commercial blueprint is proven, and the financial rewards are immediate. Take control of your fuel costs. The time for energy independence is now.
Discover how Bennamann’s CAPCH4TM technology can transform your operation. Get in touch for a free quotation.
Stop buying fuel. Start making it.
