A new power plant in the French Alps is using cheese to generate enough electricity to power a community of 1,500 people.
The plant in Albertville uses skimmed whey, a by-product from the local Beaufort cheese, to convert into biogas. Residual skimmed whey is placed in a tank with bacteria and left to ferment, producing methane. The gas is then passed through an engine which heats water, the steam from which powers a turbine and generates electricity.
François Decker of Valbio, the company that designed and built the power station, said the plant is capable of producing 2.8 million kilowatt-hours annually.
This is not the first power plant to be powered by cheese but it is one of the largest. There are around 20 other plants across France, some European countries and Canada, and it seems that the concept has spread with more plants planned in Australia, Italy, Brazil and Uruguay.
