Regular readers of this column will know that I have discussed this possibility a few times over the last few months.

Perhaps, given the problems in trying to develop the capacity of renewable energy to replace the gap that will come about after the current nuclear facilities have been shut down, this was probably an inevitable move by the government.

Despite this announcement, there is still a great deal of interest in the development of small-scale energy supply projects.

By the time the next generation of nuclear power stations reach the end of their shelf-lives (i.e., by the end of this century, when most of us will have departed this world), I believe that we will no longer be talking about developing large-scale, centralised power generating plants.

Instead, I believe that the economics of power generation will have changed sufficiently to allow most householders to generate the major share of their own needs, either individually or through community schemes.

This is most likely to come from a combination of solar power, small-scale wind turbines and anaerobic digesters.

Many developing countries are now using anaerobic digesters at a community scale to generate, which is then used for cooking.

It is one of the technologies that could be used to help meet targets for reducing greenhouse gases.

Far from being a new technology, anaerobic digestion has been used for many years to deal with animal wastes and sewage sludge. The basic process is to break down biological waste (which could include almost any biodegradable waste except woody materials) using micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen.

When biological material is broken down by this process it forms a nutrient-rich compost-like material, which can be spread to land, and a methane-rich biogas.

The biogas can be cleaned up to a standard where it can be used for vehicle fuel (or electricity generation).

While biogas was first used as a fuel more than a century ago, when it powered the street lights of Exeter, the application of this technology is now being officially endorsed by the government as their preferred choice for waste management.

It is easy to see why this option is attractive; plants are generally at a much smaller scale than traditional landfills or incinerators and as the technology is fairly well understood, it is more acceptable to the public.

Unfortunately, the economics of producing biogas from anaerobic digestion are still a bit shaky and until the landfill tax and restrictions on sending biodegradable waste to landfill begin to bite, new plants are not going to be built in large numbers.

However, given that large numbers of householders in China and India are using them, it is perhaps reasonable to expect that one day householders in this country might be able to buy their own at a DIY store.