In Wuhe County almost 50% of the region’s production is food based and the project we’re supporting buys the organic waste from approximately 15,000 smallhold farmers, to generate renewable electricity through biomass combustion. Materials such as rice husk and cotton straw are a renewable source of biomass as these would otherwise be dumped and left to decay, or burned in fields. Purchasing this waste produce to generate renewable energy provides small scale farmers with the opportunity to make up to 2,000Renminbi (or almost £200) - a meaningful contribution to their annual income.

Currently about two thirds of the country’s electricity is produced from coal-fired power stations but renewable energy can be an option. Our funding helps enable this renewable energy biomass plant to compete against cheaper fossil fuel alternatives – reducing emissions into the atmosphere, mitigating climate change and providing sustainable development.

This project is validated and verified to the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)- a global benchmark for the quality of carbon reduction projects.

As an advocate of renewable energy, we’re currently testing a range of technologies in five of our stores, so in future we can generate our own. According to the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, currently only about 16% of global energy consumption comes from renewable sources, but by funding a project like this we’re helping it to be become more widely available – creating a sustainable future for our planet.