5 minute read
INNOVATION SERIES MyGug’s recipe for Sustainable Energy
Fiona O’Donovan, Public Affairs and Communications Executive talks to Fiona Kelleher of MyGug about why food waste remains a pressing global issue, and how the potential solution is here in Cork.
As we grapple to come to terms with the effects of climate change and embrace ways to mitigate its pace, innovation will surely be one of the key tools in the fight against this crisis. Leading this innovative charge in Cork is MyGug, a Micro Scale Anaerobic Digester which offers a food waste solution, that gives abundant renewable biogas energy for cooking and a nutrient rich liquid fertiliser which is ideal for growing crops. The food waste treatment system aims to provide transformative change from the ground up, targeting food businesses, restaurants, home kitchens and schools.
The EPA estimates that we generate at least one million tonnes of food waste each year here in Ireland with the average Irish household throwing out 150kg of food waste at a cost of approximately €700 each year. In addition to the economic consequences, the environmental impact of this is a cause for great concern. When food is wasted, it ends up in landfills, where it decomposes and produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
So how does MyGug fit into all this?
Co-founder of MyGug Fiona Kelleher explains, “We’re familiar with anaerobic digestion at agricultural and industrial levels, you have great outcomes there where biogas is being used to be pumped back into the grid and to power vehicles etc., but at this [domestic] level you have a problem that’s quite widespread in homes and businesses. You have all this food waste waiting for the [refuse] truck to come, whilst also having deliveries, food waste hazards on site, storage issues, energy being displaced to manage the food waste and then of course it’s unsightly. You have odours that are difficult to control, and you have vermin problems. This solution gets rid of all that.”
“It’s win-win,” said Fiona Kelleher who explains that MyGug is also helping to deal with food security while also reducing transport emissions associated with waste food collection.
The man behind the design of the MyGug unit, and co-founder, Fiona’s husband Kieran Coffey had worked in landfill with the local authority and witnessed first-hand the impact of food waste and how difficult it is to manage. It was here that Kieran saw the need to create a solution to this and turn it into a resource. Following years of research and development MyGug went commercial around
18 months ago after the product gained interest from a West Cork restauranteur following its exposure on RTÉ’s Eco Eye.
“We put a unit into his café in 2019 and it is still there, it is doing its job, it provides them with 100% of their gas consumption, it gets rid of all their food waste, and they have the lovely liquid fertiliser they then use in their polytunnel,” said Fiona Kelleher.
Despite the many benefits associated with MyGug it is often a long road to persuasion. It is for this reason that Fiona and Kieran are also targeting the education sector. “Innovation comes first, and you have to try and bring people along that journey. You will know from looking at the journey of solar panels and wind energy and so on that these innovations take time to embed and become established, but we are getting a real spike in interest from businesses and education.”
MyGug units have been installed in Kinsale Community College and Bandon Grammer School and students are now learning about managing the system which has application in a variety of different subjects including science, biology, home economics, and agricultural economics.
“We’re very interested particularly in education because we think that is a really important area to be targeting because it is that generation that are going to be taking this technology and driving it forward and it is exciting for schools as part of their sustainability story to look at all the food waste and actually use that for their betterment.”
MyGug has the potential to be transformative and will undoubtedly be an important tool in our arsenal against climate change, but there is a long way to go before this potential can be fully realised. Fiona Kelleher says conversations are taking place in the background with organisations like the SEAI and various other financial institutions to make this innovation more widely accessible, and she believes it will be a journey like that of solar panels and other similar technologies in terms of incentivisation.
“I think what we do need is action at Governmental level and incentivisation at SEAI level. Anyone that we are speaking to, whether it is partners that are working in the food service industry, schools or individuals, they all believe that this is a gamer changer both globally and nationally.”
One thing that Fiona Kelleher is certain of, is that MyGug is in the right place to succeed, “We want to keep the business here, we feel that Cork is a great city and county to be working in. There’s a fantastic ecosystem for enterprise in this country and particularly in Cork.”
