UK-headed organic waste and waste-to-energy (WtE) solutions specialist Tidy Planet Ltd has announced that it together with biogas plant operator Eco Sustainable Solutions, are collaborating to convert global off-road racing championship Extreme E’s food waste into electricity, at the upcoming Jurassic X Prix at the Bovington British Army military base in Dorset, UK.
The Extreme E championship takes electric off-road motorsport around the globe to some of the world’s most remote locations, and as part of its mission to promote sustainability and protect the planet, it’s turning its attention to the food waste generated at its race sites.
Extreme E races are not open to on-site spectators, with fans instead invited to follow the action through live TV broadcasts, and on social media. The Extreme E championship kicked off in Saudi Arabia in April of this year with the Desert X Prix and has since traveled to Senegal (Ocean X Prix), Greenland (Arctic X Prix), and Italy (Enel X Island X Prix).
Sustainability and environmental care are deeply important to Extreme E – after all, the purpose behind the series is to raise awareness of climate issues. At the Dorset event, we’re aiming to reduce waste where possible – with all staff bringing their own reusable plates and cups – and where it’s not, we want to implement closed-loop solutions with the smallest possible carbon footprint, said Andy Welch, Utility Manager at Extreme E.
For the final leg of the racing voyage on December 18-19, 2021 December, Tidy Planet will provide the Extreme E crew with food waste drying technology. This will remove the moisture and sterilize the material – transforming it into a coffee-granule-like powder – so it can be stored safely for months on end and transported without rotting or smelling.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to be supporting Extreme E with their Dorset event. We’re experienced in providing this kind of equipment to remote locations all over the world – from oilfields in Azerbaijan to luxury island resorts in the Maldives – we know that food waste is tricky to store and treat in such challenging environments, particularly those with high temperatures. And due to the lack of infrastructure to process it in such remote places, it’s better to have a product that you can store safely and wait until it’s possible to move all the material in bulk, commented Huw Crampton, Sales Manager at Tidy Planet.
The end-product will then be taken 12 miles northwest of Bovington to local organic waste processor Eco Sustainable Solutions’ anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Piddlehinton, where it will be turned into biogas and converted into renewable energy.
Once processed, Eco Sustainable Solutions will be able to calculate how many kilowatts of electricity the resulting food waste equates to.
For the UK event, we have the ideal infrastructure close to the race, but when we travel abroad this isn’t always the case – meaning we can’t guarantee that the waste won’t end up in landfills. And this is something we wanted to change. We know that if we bring the material back with us, we can ensure it isn’t landfilled, but we needed a way to help us hold on to over three weeks’ worth of food waste, hence the call to Tidy Planet, ended Andy Welch.
