WBA Chief Executive Charlotte Morton receives OBE from HRH Princess Anne

• Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of the World Biogas Association was recognised for her services to the development of the biogas industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2022 announced in June 2022.
• She received her Order of the British Empire (OBE) medal from HRH, the Princess Royal at an Investiture held at Windsor Castle on 21st February 2023
• The Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service.
• The Duchy of Cornwall’s Poundbury Estate in West Dorset, owned by the HRH the Prince of Wales, features an anaerobic digestion plant.

Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of the World Biogas Association (WBA) travelled to Windsor Castle on 21st February to receive her OBE from HRH Princess Anne, sister of HM King Charles III.

Charlotte had been awarded the honour for services to the development of the biogas industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2022 – a tradition in the UK by which the monarch, twice a year, acknowledges meritorious services by members of British society – once on the occasion of the monarch’s birthday, and once on New Year’s Day.

“I was delighted to receive this OBE from the Princess Royal, who is very knowledgeable about the biogas industry,” commented Charlotte. “I took the opportunity to highlight the huge contribution recycling the 105bn tonnes of methane emitting organic wastes humans produce annually through biogas can make to the Global Methane Pledge, and the support her brother HM King Charles III made to the industry by helping to establish the first commercial scale gas to grid plant on the Duchy of Cornwall’s Poundbury Estate in West Dorset in 2012.”

The AD plant at Poundbury Estate now produces enough renewable gas for 7,500 houses mid-winter and 100,000 houses mid-summer.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a process by which organic matter such as food waste, sewage, manure, and other agricultural wastes are recycled into a green gas (biogas/biomethane), a biofertiliser (digestate), bioCO2 and other valuable bioproducts. The sector can produce around one third of the world’s current natural gas demand. Fully deployed, it could deliver 50% of the UK’s targets and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 10% by 2030.

Charlotte Morton has been serving as Chief Executive of the UK Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) since it was founded in 2009. The association has facilitated a growth of nearly 400% in the UK AD sector since then.

She took on the additional responsibility of Chief Executive of WBA upon its launch in 2016.

Following the appointment of former Energy Secretary Chris Huhne as Chairman of ADBA, she has dedicated more time to WBA in promoting AD and biogas globally and supporting the opening up of new biogas markets around the world.

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For further information, contact:
Jocelyne Bia, Senior Communications Consultant
e: jbia@worldbiogasassociation.org; tel: +44 (0)20 3167 0592

Notes to editors

• Charlotte Morton biography
  • Early years
    Born in Southampton, she grew up in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire, and attended Peter Symonds’ College in Winchester.
  • Higher Education
    • Degree in English and French Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (1986-1990)
    • Diplôme d’Études Juridiques Françaises, Université de Strasbourg – 1989
    • Law Society Finals, Guildford College of Law – 1991
    • MBA from London Business School (2001-2003)
  • Career path
    Following a gap year in Guatemala leading a weaving programme for Highland Indians, Charlotte started legal training to become a solicitor in the UK in 1992.
    In 2004, after practicing as a solicitor for 10 years, latterly for US law firm Bryan Cave, and completing an MBA at the London Business School, she set up her first business, WhizzGo, which offered cars for hire by the hour to reduce car ownership and CO2 emissions.
    Following the acquisitioof WhizzGo in 2008, she was invited by Lord Redesdale, former energy spokesman for the Liberal Democrats for the House of Lords (2000-2008), to set up the business side of the UK’s Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA)*. The association was officially launched in September 2009, with the objective to develop standards and best practice, to help remove the barriers to the anaerobic digestion (AD) industry’s growth and to support its members.
    Since 2009, Charlotte Morton has overseen ADBA facilitating a growth in the sector of nearly 400% in the UK. Fully deployed, the industry could deliver 50% of the UK Global Methane Pledge targets, and globally, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10%.
    Now at the helm of WBA alongside her role at ADBA, she continues to be a strong and dedicated campaigner for the development of the AD and biogas industry both in the UK and worldwide.
    *renamed Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association in 2014
• Launched at COP22 in Marrakesh in 2016, the World Biogas Association is the global trade association for the biogas, landfill gas and anaerobic digestion (AD) sectors, and is dedicated to facilitating the recycling of all organic wastes and residues through biogas globally. It believes that the global adoption of biogas technologies is a multi-faceted opportunity to produce clean, renewable energy, bioCO2, natural fertilisers and other valuable bioresources while addressing energy and food security and resolving global issues related to development, public health, and economic growth. www.worldbiogasassociation.org