UK Biogas Plants Exceed 100 And Hit Trouble

The good news is that that magic number of 100 anaerobic digestion plants in the UK has now been exceeded. In fact, if you visit the AD Info "Official Anaerobic Digestion" website, you will find that their list of 100 does not include a number of categories of AD Plant, such as Water Company sewage sludge fed plants. That means that the true number is probably more like 125 already, plus even within their categories we know of several unlisted digesters. Even so, the UK is still a long way behind Germany and other EU states, so we maybe should not be proclaiming this achievement at all? On balance I think the UK is right to give itself a small pat on the back. But, let's not forget that Germany has two to three thousand AD Plants in operation. Yes. That is thousands! And yet, the proportion of UK plants that are organic waste fed, as opposed to energy crop, is vastly higher than in Germany, and that in itself is arguably far better. It is better for the environment and the avoidance of potentially reducing food production and raising food prices. So, the UK AD industry is correspondingly much "greener". The following is the press release that prompted this article:

Anaerobic digestion plants hit the 100 mark...

(author unknown)

"The number of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in the UK – excluding waste water plants - has passed the 100 mark.www.mrw.co.uk/news/...plants.../8643427.article?..." http://www.mrw.co.uk/news/anaerobic-digestion-plants-hit-the-100-mark/8643427.article%3Fblocktitle%3DLatest-news---recycling-and-waste-management%26contentID%3D2182

But, unfortunately, as the UK biogas industry is expanding it is also beginning to hit trouble with odours and pollution. The Poplars Landfill Anaerobic Digestion Plant was last week in the News for continued odour complaints from local residents. Hopefully, that will be a thing of the past , after the plant operator brings in new measures to combat those odours this month. Watercourse pollution is the "trouble" which one AD Plant oprator has been "hit" by. Yet, one wonders whether the method being used for pumping the digestate at the time was wise, given the risk from pollution. The following is an extract from the article, to which we refer:

Somerset company fined for polluting stream with waste from anaerobic digester... 

Waste Management World

"The pipe had broken free while digestate was being pumped from the anaerobic digestion plant. The pollution flowed into a trench and eventually into a stream which flows into the River Parrett. Approximately 60 tonnes of liquid digestate was lost ..." http://www.waste-management-world.com/news/2013/02/21/somerset-company-fined-for-polluting-stream-with-waste-from-anaerobic-digestion-plant.html

The River Parrett is slow flowing through the Somerset levels so the potential damage to river ecology is large.