ON October 26, a large group from Climate Friendly Bradford on Avon visited the Mallaby Martin biogas plant at Warminster.

This plant processes 17,000 tonnes of food waste annually, from a variety of sources, and produces enough electricity to supply three quarters of Warminster. Significantly, this is base load power, produced day and night and helping to balance intermittent renewables such as wind and solar. As well as generating this vital power, waste is kept from landfill and after the digestion process a valuable fertiliser is produced.

There are similar digesters in other parts of the UK and, to answer Mr Howard's letter of October 16, if there were more they could go a long way to answer his query about how we fulfil our growing energy needs: wind and solar, backed up by more predictable sources such as tidal, hydro and anaerobic digestion.

If our government truly believed in renewables they would support these sources rather than going out to lock us into another fossil fuel such as gas produced by fracking.

Sadly, however, support for renewables is not happening and we learnt that new biogas plants are being put on hold due to lack of confidence in the renewables industry by investors due to government cut backs in support.

Another instance of this was when the Treasury stated that community energy projects will be excluded from the Enterprise Investment Scheme and no longer qualify for Social Investment tax relief.

The climate change conference in Paris in December looks hopeful because China and the USA appear finally to be waking up to the realities of climate change but how can the international community believe our government when their words imply support for action but their actions give another message.

Rowena Quantrill, Newtown, Bradford on Avon