Are AD plants noisy?
AD plants are typically very quiet and are not generally associated with noise disturbance or ongoing noise issues.
All possible sources of noise are assessed, with mechanical items used on site assessed before and after development. During the construction of a plant an independent acoustic assessment is submitted to the local authority with any planning application.
As well as following the strict noise standards applied in agricultural areas, Future Biogas takes additional measures to soundproof noise sources from within the plant. Equipment likely to generate noise is specially housed and HGV access hours are often limited.
Do AD Plants Smell?
AD plants that are fed entirely by crops do not cause odour nuisance to local residents or businesses. There is usually a minimal compost/crop silage type odour associated with the silage storage (clamps) on site and only detectable when standing in close proximity to the clamps.
Odour issues are more commonly associated with food waste, utility sludge plants or animal manure feedstocks, which do not apply to our new Project Carbon Harvest sites.
When plants are constructed, independent odour assessments are submitted to the local authority with the planning application, which assesses all possible odour emission points. All liquid digestate produced is stored in a fully covered store.
What is Digestate?
A valuable by-product of AD is digestate, an organic material created once the feedstock has been converted to biomethane. The AD process produces a solid and a liquid digestate, both of which are returned to agricultural soils as part of circular agreements with our growers. This is fundamental to the working partnerships between Future Biogas and farm businesses.
Solid digestate provides organic matter and slow-release nutrients to the soil, in addition to structural benefits, such as improving soil structure and water holding capacity. It can be used in a similar way to compost and helps build long-term soil health.
Liquid digestate contains high quantities of readily available Nitrogen and other plant nutrients including phosphate, potash, and micronutrients. It is used to directly replace artificial fertilisers and is applied when crops are actively growing.
How Safe are AD Plants?
Modern biogas plants are designed with multiple safety features to avoid incidents such as the recent lightning strike and fire at a plant in Oxfordshire.
All of our plants have sophisticated lightning protection systems that meet the British Standard 62305 and will be regulated by the HSE.
All plants contain fire suppression equipment as standard as well as being built with comprehensive containment to ensure nothing leaves the site other than intentional exports of by-products.
Shouldn't we be growing food?
Future Biogas supports farmers in the transition to more regenerative land practices, aligning with agri-environmental policies and encouraging custodianship of local soils.
Our AD plants provide local farmers with the opportunity to diversify their crop rotations and support the investment needed to transition towards sustainable farming practices such as:
Minimising soil disturbance
Protecting soils from erosion
Building natural resilience through more diverse crop rotations
Substitution of artificial fertilisers with liquid and solid digestate
Reducing chemical and synthetic treatments
Reducing diesel use
All of this will materially improve the ability of local farms to adapt to the effects of climate change and continue to produce reliable and nutritious food crops.
Discussing this model from the perspective of farmers, Dr Jonathan Scurlock, Chief Adviser, Renewable Energy and Climate Change at the National Farmers’ Union, has said: “There are clearly growing opportunities for profitable break crops in extended arable rotations to provide bioenergy feedstock for AD plants. This will support national demand for low-carbon energy as well as our own agricultural net zero ambition, while also contributing to soil health and food production on the same land. By working with Future Biogas, farmers can enable verifiable greenhouse gas removal or ‘negative emissions’. It’s exciting that carbon dioxide captured by British-grown bioenergy crops can be permanently removed from the atmosphere in this way.”