This year’s Earth Day theme, Our Power, Our Planet, really resonated with us, because it is something we have been living and breathing for over a decade. It’s how we run the farm every single day.
What began as a traditional 1,150-acre arable farm in the heart of the Hampshire countryside has become one of the UK’s most ambitious closed-loop renewable energy operations.
In 2012, we made the pivotal decision to build an anaerobic digester powered by arable crops grown on the farm itself.
By 2014, Apsley was injecting biomethane directly into the gas grid, and today, we are proud to be one of the UK’s top ten producers of sustainable biomethane, generating enough green gas each year to heat 10,000 homes.
Each year, 90,000 tonnes of maize, rye, barley, oats and grass are grown on the estate and on nearby farms before being fed into our anaerobic digester, which produces renewable gas and electricity for the local network.
What is really important to us is that nothing goes to waste. The CO2 we capture is refined into food-grade liquid CO2 and supplied to the food and drink industry. We are proud to have the UK’s only BRCGS-certified liquid gas, which is compressed and turned into dry ice on site.
The process does not stop there. The digestate left behind becomes a certified organic fertiliser and a peat-free, soil-improving mulch. It’s a true closed-loop system, where every output has a purpose.
We are also constantly refining the way we farm, with techniques like minimum tillage, cover cropping and precision nutrient management all helping us reduce our carbon footprint and improve soil health.
Since 2014, our operations have saved over 240,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions and our biomethane achieves a carbon intensity of minus 1g CO2/MJ – not just net zero, but net negative.
Our Power, Our Planet has been our ethos for over a decade. Investing in the right technology has enabled us to build something that genuinely closes the energy loop.
We are delighted to be part of the green revolution, with every step of our growth grounded in sustainable and efficient practices.
For us, Earth Day is not only a moment to reflect – it is also a reminder that real progress comes from what you do all year round.