And finally…cheese to heat hundreds of UK homes

A government-backed green energy plant in the area will start producing gas from cheddar manufacturing waste, The Telegraph reports.

Whey and other residue from cheese production at the Lake District Creamery will be processed into biogas and fed in the gas grid, and the company will receive millions of pounds in subsidies for doing so.

The biogas is produced by pumping liquid whey residues left over from the cheese-making, together with water that is used to clean down equipment, into a giant tank. Bacteria then feed on the fats and sugars in the cheese residues producing “biogas” – a mixture of methane and other gases

According to the company that built the plant, Clearfleau, the total amount of gas that will be fed into the grid each year would meet the needs of 4000 homes. However, about 60 percent of that will be used for the creamy’s own use, leaving the equivalent of 1600 homes’ annual gas usage circulating to homes and businesses in rural Cumbria.

Developer Lake Districts Biogas is funding the project, and will receive about £2 million a year in government subsidies for doing so.

Meanwhile, Glasgow could become Britain’s biggest and cleanest power station if a radical new method of powering homes and businesses comes to fruition.

The novel and ambitious proposals involve establishing a community-owned company which would convert derelict land or buildings into renewables hubs to wean the city off its reliance on the national grid.

The company would be set up to reinvest profits from power generation into improving insulation of buildings and reducing fuel poverty.

It has been suggested that the city is well positioned to benefit from a wave of urban solar farms and windmills due to the “unusual” amount of vacant land and buildings within its boundaries.