Wind-powered sewage

Plans for the first-ever wind turbine to help power a major British sewage treatment works (STW) with its own green energy have been given the go-ahead.

Thames Water's Crossness plant in east London already generates around 20 per cent of the energy it needs with its sewage sludge-powered generator.

But the erection of an 86m-high, 2.5MW turbine as part of a multi-million pound extension to the works will, in the right weather conditions, see the plant produce as much as 50 per cent of the energy it requires.

A spokesman for the British Wind Energy Association said: 'The 2.5MW Crossness turbine marks a growing trend among British businesses to generate their own energy from wind, with the option of exporting surplus energy to the grid.'

Further investment at Crossness, one of the largest STWs in Europe which currently deals with two million people's waste, is needed to help the plant cope with the challenge of climate change and population growth.