CASE STUDY: Ixora Energy biomethane plants in UK awarded international sustainability certification

by Ken Hickson, ABC Carbon & Sustain Ability Showcase Asia (SASA), Singapore.

Ixora Energy’s Condate Biogas, Gorst Energy and Sustainable Energy Generation (SEG) plants, located in South-west region of the United Kingdom, have been awarded certification to International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) standards, providing biomethane gas for injection into the National Grid.

Achieving certification involved an extensive third-party audit, undertaken by the DoubleHelix-EnviroSense partnership, covering all operations and supply chains across Ixora’s sites, including how feedstock for the anaerobic digestion (AD) process is sourced and managed to generate and inject biomethane.

Darren Thomas, Double Helix Tracking Technologies (DoubleHelix) Director (UK) said he was very impressed by the processes employed by the Ixora Energy plants and how they have integrated sustainable farming businesses into their supply chain.

“Ixora Energy are a fine example of how well-structured AD supply chains underpin the circular economy”, Mr Thomas said, as he explained what was involved in auditing the sourcing and production processes to achieve the ISCC certification.

The three biomethane anaerobic digestion (AD) plants that are managed by Ixora and now ISCC certified, utilise raw materials, which are a combination of:

• Crops, including rye, barley, oats, and wheat, as well as maize and rye from local farms,

• Waste materials and residues, like whey, poultry litter, farmyard manure, waste apples, waste potatoes and apple pomace, also collected from local sources.

Once delivered to the plants, the refined biomethane gas generated from this process is injected straight into the National Grid.  The renewable electricity and gas generated is sufficient to power local communities where the anaerobic plants are located.

Not only is there sufficient power generated to run all of the plants, but all the waste residues also left over after the AD process goes back to the farms to be used as a more effective organic fertiliser instead of untreated manure and waste.

Charles Kane, Sustainability Director, Ixora Energy said the audit highlighted how the company can maintain its integrity with local farm businesses, which creates an effective circular economy of its own.

“ISCC certification is a fantastic milestone for us,” Mr Kane said, “as it showcases the work we do to build local farm businesses into our supply chains. We’ve always believed in working together with farms and communities so that everyone benefits from green energy production through AD.”

He acknowledged that local energy production is an advantage when compared with other sources of green energy, including biofuels, which often involve shipping feedstock internationally and this has been known to lead to deforestation.

Ixora Energy selected DoubleHelix, a registered ISCC Certification Body, to work on the audit in partnership with EnviroSense, which has a wealth of experience in the UK, with a team of assurance specialists and qualified verifiers.

As three of its AD plants have been certified to the ISCC EU standard, Mr Kane welcomed the involvement and expertise of DoubleHelix and EnviroSense in the audit process. He is pleased that the company’s achievements in generating sustainable energy locally have been recognised by meeting the much sought-after international standards.

About Double Helix Tracking Technologies

DoubleHelix delivers practical solutions to help companies discover their supply chains and communicate their product's journey from forest, farm, factory, mill, or plant to the consumer. With its in-country experts in Europe, Asia Pacific, North and South America, it engages with suppliers and supply chains to collect, analyse, and verify data. It also provides audit services against internationally recognized timber legality and chain of custody (PEFC) standards awarded by the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC), as well as accreditation (in 2022) as a certification body for International Sustainability & Carbon Certification ISCC) to meet European Union renewable energy and biofuel production standards.   https://www.doublehelixtracking.com/project-management

About EnviroSense

EnviroSense is comprised of an experienced team that offer trusted assessment and verification services in the renewables industry including Renewable Heat Incentive, Renewable Obligation and Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation sustainability engagements required by national regulators. EnviroSense works with a number of high-profile energy companies in the EU to manage sustainability compliance in additional to investment companies requiring due diligence of bioenergy assets. EnviroSense is also a UK registered Monitoring Organisation for timber due diligence. https://envirosenselimited.co.uk/news/ 

About Ixora Energy

Ixora Energy is a UK-based business, with a team of 38 experts who have been supplying a full range of anaerobic digestion (AD) management services to customers across the UK and Republic of Ireland since 2010. Owned by Downing LLP, a city of London institutional investor in green energy, Ixora has worked with five different funding companies. Since 2010, Ixora has been generating green energy and powering the UK with 100% British-made gas and electricity. The company’s existing plants are achieving 98% availability of renewable energy, with the combined output enough to power 30,000 homes. https://ixoraenergy.co.uk/about_ixora_energy/ 

About International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC)

ISCC is a global certification system for implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) (RED II). Being ISCC certified confirms a company’s compliance with the RED II. The certification also promotes several core values, including traceable supply chains, protection of high biodiversity habitats and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. ISCC’s key objective is to contribute to the implementation of environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable production methods and the use of a wide range of types of biomass in global supply chains. https://www.iscc-system.org/about/objectives/