Householders are cooking and heating their homes with gas made from sewage for the first time in the UK. Human waste is being turned into "green" fuel at a plant in Didcot, Oxfordshire, which can supply up to 200 homes. There are plans to roll out the scheme across the country as the UK strives to meet EU targets of providing 15% of all energy from rewnewable sources by 2020. The £2.5m scheme in Oxfordshire – a joint effort between British Gas, Thames Water and Scotia Gas Networks – sees sewage pumped to the plant from homes. Then sludge, the solid part of the waste, is treated to produce a renewable gas known as biomethane or biogas. The gas is cleaned before being fed back into the grid to supply homes. The entire process, from flush to cooker or boiler, takes about 20 days. A similar system is already used to create renewable electricity from sewage, where the gas is burned to produce power. But this is the first time biogas has been pumped directly into the grid for use in homes. Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said: "This is a historic day for the companies involved, for energy from waste technologies, and for progress to increase the amount of renewable energy in the UK." Martin Baggs, chief executive of Thames Water, said the scheme was "a sign of what is to come". Source: Sky News