Plan for farm waste to power dwellings
Farm waste could be used to help power houses in a Lincolnshire village if a new energy plant receives the go-ahead.
A large barn on farmland in Nocton Fen, south of Lincoln, currently used to store equipment, will be transformed into part of an anaerobic digestion facility under the proposal submitted to Lincolnshire County Council.
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Edinburgh-based renewable energy company Greenspan Energy wants to develop a plant capable of using 28,000 tonnes of organic material each year to generate heat and electricity.
Sugar beet pulp, toppings, maize, grass and underdeveloped crops that have no economic value would be put into a digester throughout the year.
These materials would then be broken down by bacteria in the tanks to produce methane which can be converted to generate electricity and heat.
The plant could power up to 250 local homes, if working to full capacity.
Greenspan Energy environmental planner Tom Henderson said the site in Nocton Fen was excellent for the project, with fields nearby able to provide the organic material.
Mr Henderson added the facility would be expected to create jobs in the area.
"The plant would provide one megawatt of power and that should usually supply plenty of houses in the area," he said.
"We have found out a lot of information from the Danes and Germans that have been using anaerobic digestion for years and years."
Lincolnshire County Council is expected to make a decision on the proposal by April.
For more details of the plans, see Monday's Echo.
3 Comments
by J Prout, north Hykeham
Thursday, February 18 2010, 6:10PM
“In response to the Planning Application for a ¿factory¿ farm with 8100 cows at Nocton Heath together with an anaerobic digestion unit.
The digester is planned to be large enough to produce 2 megawatts, sufficient not only to provide electricity for the proposed ¿factory¿ farm but to also be capable of supplying 2000 houses.
Digesters digest organic waste in a machine that limits access to oxygen encouraging the generation of methane and carbon dioxide by microbes in the waste. This gas is then burned as fuel to make electricity.
Digesters are only marginally effective at reducing problems with odours, pathogens and greenhouse gas emissions from animal waste. Digesters aren't emissions-free. They are known to emit nitrogen and sulphur oxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and ammonia.
These emissions could be unpleasant for those living near the digester, some proposals for digesters have been fought off by community opposition. In this planning application the digester is to be positioned within two to three miles of a number of large villages, some of which are dormitory villages of Lincoln.
This application could have a very unpleasant affect on these villages and for the residents the possibility of reduced property values.
As if the digester did not in itself present enough environmental problems, the animal waste from the digester will then be spread on the surrounding 21,000 acres.”
by Rick, Lincoln
Monday, January 18 2010, 1:25PM
“can see it now when it gets built,
"New energy plant creates bad stink calls for it to be closed down"
can guarantee though that someone will be opposed to it if not in nocton then a neighbouring village.”
by kenneth, lincoln
Monday, January 18 2010, 10:49AM
“A great deal of power could be produced by these methods instead of those ugly blots on the land called windgeneraters . Just how much wind have you witnessed lately ?.”