Planners back cow dung power plan

Mr Tomlinson wants to produce enough energy for 500 homes

A farmer has been granted planning permission for a generator to turn cow dung into enough energy for 130 homes.

Richard Tomlinson, who farms near Holt, Wrexham, has started construction work and hopes the generator will be operational by the end of the year.

He said planners had not granted permission to combine the cow slurry with food waste - which he says would create enough power for 500 homes.

He said: "We're pleased. But we're only three quarters of the way there."

He added: "We've been given permission for an anaerobic digester which will allow us to produce about 130KW from cow slurry.

"Wrexham Council's planners are digging their heels in about the food waste, but by combining the cow slurry with food waste we could boost production to about 500KW, which is enough for 500 homes.

"The argument will still be ongoing with the planners and I do think the political will is going to change quite quickly."

Carbon footprint

Mr Tomlinson, who has a 600-strong herd of organic dairy cows, has funded the £500,000 operation himself.

He added: "The Welsh Assembly Government do provide some sort of funding for anaerobic digesters, but on large industrial sites rather than on farms, so they need to reconsider their funding arrangements.

"This needs to be done on farms because as soon as you start moving cow slurry in vehicles to industrial sites, your carbon footprint increases."

Mr Tomlinson said he had "no shortage" of interest from large companies keen to buy the electricity from him once he was hooked up to the National Grid.

He added that fuel costs were rising and this method provided a viable, green alternative.

A spokeswoman for Wrexham Council said planning permission for a cow slurry digester had been granted.