The increasing demand for renewable sources of energy for
heating and electrical power generation, has been driven by a
number of factors but largely by rising costs, fuel security issues and
increasingly, environmental concerns [1,2]. The European parliament
has been instrumental in addressing these issues across all its
member states and seeks to increase the uptake of biomass for
energy generation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions
[2]. While this may encourage interest and uptake of sustainable
and renewable energy generation, there is often a mismatch in fuel
availability and power plant suitability [2,3]. Between the extremes
of small scale domestic and large scale regional heat and power
generation, there is often a need for intermediate sized plants and
this may be particularly applicable for farm based agricultural enterprises
[4,5]. Mixed farms, such as those that have both livestock
and arable capabilities, can offer high potential for both electricity
and heat generation from animal wastes and crops grown specifically
for energy crops. Anaerobic digestion (AD) can utilize anima