PUMPKIN power will be used this Halloween to fuel a fleet of vehicles and warm up homes.

Food waste expert Warrens Group, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, will take more than ten tonnes of perfectly edible pumpkins to generate electricity to power 100 homes.

The firm's commercial director, Kevin Quigley, said the pumpkins will heat people’s homes using clean energy.

He said: "After Halloween is over, most pumpkins are thrown into landfill or on a compost heap. That is a lot of waste when they could be turned into something much more sustainable, such as renewable energy.

“At Warrens Group, we use our fleet of collection vehicles to gather food waste. From there, the pumpkin waste is placed in our anaerobic digesters which are filled with bacteria that then breaks it down.

“As the pumpkins decompose, they release methane gas which can then be turned into an environmentally-friendly fuel. We use this to fuel our vehicles and the rest goes to the National Grid to heat people’s homes with clean energy.

“It’s interesting to think about how much energy can be generated on pumpkin waste alone. For example, 10 tonnes of pumpkin waste five days a week could be enough to generate electricity to power 100 homes. It’s a much better alternative than if they were sitting in a landfill site.”

Mr Quigley added that the remainder of the pumpkin waste can also be used as fertiliser by farmers on next year’s crops.

He said: “We do have an alternative for pumpkin waste, so if we can use all of the discarded pumpkins from Halloween to power our vehicles and homes, then why not? It’s a lot more cost-effective and energy efficient and will help businesses to reduce their carbon footprint at the same time.

“Our biomethane filling station is capable of fuelling 200 vehicles per day and it guarantees no losses in transmissions of gas from conversion to filling.

"The trucks rely on biomethane gas and generate 84 per cent less carbon dioxide than diesel.”