A BRITISH pie and mash firm has become the first factory in the world to run on a potato-powered electricity generator.

    The Cavaghan and Gray ready-meals plant in Carlisle, Cumbria, is powered by a bio-refinery that converts its own leftover potatoes and potato peelings into electricity and steam.

    Starting up Tuesday, the new state-of-the-art green generator will produce 3,500 MWh a year in electricity — enough to supply power to 850 homes.

    The “first-of-its-kind” potato-powered bio-generator is also expected to generate around 5,000 MWh a year in steam.

    Potato peelings are taken from their own pie-and-mash food line — such as their mince beef and onion potato-topped pies available in supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsburys.

    Cavaghan and Gray’s parent firm, the Birmingham-based 2 Sisters Food Group, say bio-refineries could soon be rolled out at their factories across the U.K.

    The company employs more than 23,000 people from 36 different nationalities to bring “big brand” favorites such as Fox’s Biscuits and Goodfella’s Pizza to British High Street.

    So potato power could soon help produce everything from pizzas, pies, poultry and puddings for millions of customers at Lidl, Marks & Spencer, and Sainsbury’s.

    The Carlisle site aims to generate 35,000 tons of carbon savings per year and slash the group’s carbon footprint by 20 percent.

    Andrew Edlin, 2 Sisters’ group sustainability director, said, “The bio-refinery is a world-first for the food industry.

    “It uses a new type of super-efficient technology to generate energy from potato waste.”

    “We are looking to use this system to open up to 10 further energy plants at other 2 Sisters factories over the coming three years, using potato and other food waste to generate energy and steam.”

    Executives at 2 Sisters say diverting waste to power production will help the group meet its goal of sending no waste to landfill by 2017. Residual waste left after the bio-refining process has been completed can also be re-used as fertilizer, possibly on some of the hundreds of farms that supply the company with produce.

    The bio-refineries are being run by renewable energy expert H2 Energy as part of the food group’s Feeding Our Future sustainability project that will include cutting the company’s carbon footprint by 20 percent by 2018. When all the bio-refineries are installed, 2 Sisters expects to make 35,000 tons of carbon savings a year. (SD-Agencies)