A sort of European bio-gas arms race begins, as Britain continues to turn more attention to developing bio-gas power plants. Educating the public continues to be a huge factor, however, in approving new bio-gas technology in suburban and rural areas. The county of Norfolk recently resubmitted plans for an anaerobic digestion power plant that will power 1,500 homes, located on the edge of Attleborough. Concerns from local residents about noise, smell, and traffic issues stemming from the constant hauling of waste are being eased by officials from SS Agriservices, the local renewable energy firm. The project was even withdrawn from the Breckland Council last summer after Britain’s Environmental Agency expressed reservations about odors that might emanate from the site.
Since manure and waste products are often used in the digestion process, many bio-gas facilities build their tanks underground to reduce concerns about odors. Tim Evans, the managing director of Renewable Zukunft, which is working in partnership with SS Agriservices, confirmed that the prospective facility at Attlesborough was be resubmitted with plans to store the waste underground. SS Agriservices, is a collective of local farmers and agricultural contractors in Norfolk and Suffolk hoping to build the region’s first anaerobic digestion project. Located on a poultry farm off Stony Lane in Attleborough, the power station would be fueled by manure and waste crops like maize, cereals, and grains. The methane gas produced would drive a generator and create electricity. Evans said he believes that bio-gas was a more reliable and “attractive” source of energy than onshore and offshore wind farms. While other European nations like Germany and Austria can boast over 7,500 biogas facilities, there are only a handful currently running in the UK. “The government is putting lots of money into wind farms, which only run for 25 percent of the year, and we run for 95 percent of the year,” Evans said. “It is not windy everywhere, but there are farms everywhere, and one of the attractions of Crows Hall Farm is that it is very close to a suitable connection to the National Grid.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
No Forest No Future
Nature Is Important, So Save Nature for Sustainability. Archives
April 2011
Categories
All
|