A consultation on plans to allow anaerobic digestion facilities to be built nearer to homes and businesses without operators having to apply for more expensive and complicated environmental permits has been launched by the Environment Agency today (January 4).
But, while on-farm AD operators look set to benefit from the proposals outlined in the ‘Standard Rules Consultation No. 6', off-farm operators will still be expected to operate under a 250 metre distance limit and a more expensive bespoke permit, due to odour issues.
It also includes plans to reduce the distance away from a site of ecological importance that an AD facility can be built under the rules governing standard permits – the standard rules – from 500 metres to 300 metres.
Explaining the approach it plans to take from April 2011, the Agency said: “We have modelled the way engine stack gas emissions from the burning of the biogas produced from AD is dispersed. Our findings suggest that the current standard rules for the distance between the stack from the combustion plant and homes or public buildings are no longer needed.”
The changes would apply to Standard Rules SR2009 No. 4, for the combustion of biogas in engines at sewage treatment works and Standard Rules SR2009 No. 16, for on-farm AD facilities, including the use of the resultant biogas.
Off-farm
But, the Agency noted that off-farm AD plants, which are covered by Standards Rules SR2009 No. 15, deal with a wider range of waste, including food and catering waste, and as such if they were close to homes or public buildings, it would conduct a “site-specific odour assessment”.
It explained: “We therefore propose to retain the distance limit of 250m allowing us to carry out a full assessment of the operator's application and odour management plan before we issue a permit.
“In this case, the standard rules will not apply and the operator will have to apply for a bespoke permit.”
Larger facilities
The Standard Rules currently apply to AD facilities operating at less than three megawatts thermal input, with larger facilities being permitted under a separate combustion section of the permitting regulations.
However, the Agency noted that the government has plans to remove biogas combustion from that section of the regulations.
As a result, it then plans to extend the updated standard rules to the burning of AD-derived biogas up to five megawatts thermal input, inviting views under the consultation on that change and what the associated waste throughput should be – ranging from 75,000 tonnes-a-year to 100,000 tonnes-a-year.
The consultation is open until January 31, with the results set to be published in February 2011 and the revised standard rules issued in April 2011.
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