Anyone living near an Anaerobic Digester?

Rowley Birkin QC

I'm living near (<150m) from the proposed site of an Anaerobic Digester. I'm wondering if anyone here is nearby to one that is up and running?

We have concerns primarily around the environmental impact if the plant goes ahead, primarily smell and any potential run off.

For anyone living near to one, can you share a little of your experience through these lenses?

Thanks!

Hyland17

I Know a little about these. What are they going to feed the digester with? As for smells there is odour control units installed to limit the smells, any run off will be accounted for and returned for further treatment as per EPA licence. Traffic will be your biggest issue I'd say. If its fed from wwtp it will be alot busier during the summer months as sludge grows with the heat.

Silverdream

Is the digester yours? If not then if it was me, I'd be pulling all the stops and objecting.

Waffletraktor

If it's off forage you'll only notice extra traffic if it's off sewage or house hold waste the smell can be vile.

Calahonda52

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122437027#Comment_122437027

Would you like to expand on this truly visionary contribution?

https://www.teagasc.ie/rural-economy/rural-development/diversification/anaerobic-digestion/

coolbeans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122437027#Comment_122437027

Knows nothing about it but advises objection. Fuckin' typical.

epfff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122437526#Comment_122437526

Thinking it's a case of I'd prefer the neighbours cow dieing than I getting another cow myself.

The country is full of negativity and anti progression.

Engage with the developer and the council, go to see existing similar set ups incorporate it into your holidays if you need to travel. But believe nothing that's not in writing and on planning documents.

150m seems to be very close to you.

Traffic after the construction stage would be my concern. So entrance and exits would need to be carefully thought out.

Base price

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058361810/anyone-living-near-an-anaerobic-digester

Thanks @Rowley Birkin QC for opening this thread. With the push for building anaerobic digesters around Ireland and the potential negative/positive impact on families living near one it's important to have comment from those affected.

I know little about them other than what @Waffletraktor posted - apparently household and sewage used a feedstock stinks.

rustynutz

I'm in a similar situation to the OP, a proposed site approx 300 meters from my house. In typical Irish fashion, the government is ploughing ahead with these digesters without first establishing guidelines as to where they should be located. Google what it's like to live near the plant in Ballybofey if you want to see how bad it can be. These plants should be far away from towns, and built up residential areas, and certainly not within 150m of a house. Also, they only make financial sense if they are fed with household waste or slurry/sewage, despite what the planning permission documents might say the source will be.

Waffletraktor

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Waffletraktor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122437722#Comment_122437722

I know one of the lads running a farm with 6Mw worth of plants in Se Kent in the Uk, a forage based system the only thing that'd be noticeable outsude the gate is the loading shovels buzzer loading 300 tons per day of maize and wholecrops. 95% of what goes in goes back to be land spread so needs to be well situated but no different to a busy factory.

They make clamps beside farm tracks and haul in as needed with walking floor bulkers and have built slurry storage bags on blocks of land to haul liquid digestate to over winter and have on farms for spring/autumn.

https://www.facebook.com/StNicholasCourtFarms/

dmakc

The government needs to start respecting the wishes of its citezens instead of ramming these plants (of all kinds) into established residential areas.

Private developers lying to landowners (via "CPOs" & intentions) to grab their land and put in gas/AD plants, then refusing to communicate with the public before/after the application.

All to keep the data centres fed.

Water John

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122438457#Comment_122438457

Could you explain how CPO's come into the matter?

dmakc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122438479#Comment_122438479

Consider X as substantially larger than Y. If a cowboy developer offers landowner X/ac, is refused, then (falsely) threatens if they don't take it then they'll CPO it for Y/ac, and landowner gives in. Developer then throws in the application

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058361810/anyone-living-near-an-anaerobic-digester

The digester should be o/k. If you are concerned find out who is doing the install and commissioning work and try to visit sites they have put similar installs in.

One of the delightful things about anerobic digestion is that you soon get used to the H2S anyway. Just don't go into the cellar without a canary :-)

screamer

can't be any worse than the foul stench of slurry being agitated, can it???? 150m away not a hope, if it's stink it will devalue your house too……

Water John

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122438504#Comment_122438504

The only body that can CPO land is the state, no private entity can CPO.

Yes, I would look for a significant distance. Think, pig, poultry farm or sewage treatment plant, as in smell. 200m would be near IWT, 3/400m preferred. Now I wouldn't be a nimby on such matters, just what I'd think would be reasonable. An AD plant reduces the smell of slurry, so locating such a plant in a farmyard should be desirable.

alps

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122438457#Comment_122438457

These digestors will not produce electricity. The plan for Ireland is to feed biogas into the gas grid.

Only the state can CPO land.

150m sounds incredibly close to a neighbouring house and unless a complete fodder feedstock, would be genuine grounds for objection.

dmakc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122438558#Comment_122438558

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122438587#Comment_122438587

"Only the state can CPO land"

I know, and this is the point. A private developer threatened the farmer (who wasn't aware of this) with a CPO to get this deal over the line. Now FWIW, €X was substantial, but it was still a no until the CPO threat for €Y came.

older by the day

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122437571#Comment_122437571

How now brown cow. The man's property is less than 150m from the proposed site. It will increase traffic on the road, may cause smell, so it will devalue his property, so he should get something out of it.

It reminds me of the windfarm a few miles away. They came around telling us about all the cheap electricity it would create and the good it would do, they built the windfarmand sold it on afterwards. One neighbour objected to the planning and got money to withdraw. He was dead right, all these things are about money making.

manjou

What would happen if the gas was to explode being 150 metres away would not be much protection. Traffic big problem as they need large volumes of product which has to be hauled in and out. Think the government haven't thought this out and just throwing it out there in every interview as answer to to pollution and derogation .

cjpm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122438824#Comment_122438824

The Irish Government to do something bull headed without thinking of the consequences….. wouldn’t exactly be the first time!!

Hyland17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122438824#Comment_122438824

There is a flare stack installed to burn off any over load so very unlikely to explode. Personally i wouldn't like to have one that close to the house unless it was my own. They take a lot of feed to maintain the maximum output

J.O. Farmer

What's the minimum distance to one of these legally. There's a 60m limit for forestry or 30m with owner consent.

An AD plant seems like it should be a lot further away than forestry.

alps

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122438824#Comment_122438824

The government have thought this out. AD plants are a very common feature in all other European and developed countries. Going down the anger route based on "government haven't thought this out" is futile.

Disturbance, noise, smell, traffic are all genuine concerns and cause for objection.

I would also be of the opinion that they will be a competitior to agriculture rather than a help and will move to increase agriculture's emissions while reducing it's output.

Emissions savings will be attributed to the users of the biogas, while the production emissions from feedstock production will be attributed to agriculture.

They probably fit in as a better combination with the tillage based livestock industry across mainland Europe.

Rowley Birkin QC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122436373#Comment_122436373

Thanks.

The digester is proposed to be fed with (as far as I know) forrage. The developer is already sounding out locals about buying or leasing land for crop to be grown specifically for the digester. There's also a large creamery nearby but I'm not sure if they are partnering with them. I hadn't even considered they might be using human waste.

Thanks for the input so far.

Waffletraktor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122439131#Comment_122439131

Getting use out of the heat generated is also useful for community district heating or green houses etc on the continent.

Rowley Birkin QC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122437913#Comment_122437913

Thanks for the input.

You've touched on something that I have concerns about. I read the planning application files for a similiar plant in Kildare yesterday evening (File No:221035 here: https://webgeo.kildarecoco.ie/planningenquiry# ) and while it talks about all of the odor elimination and mitigation measures the plant has to take (Slovakian study on these here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304268149_ODOR_CONTROL_IN_BIOGAS_PLANT_-_CASE_STUDY) I have doubts about the enforcement of these measures.

Is there anything available online about Ballybofey?

Rowley Birkin QC

Also for clarity on the distance, there is a national road between me and the proposed site but still the distance between the two properties is 186m. I was slightly out but it's still very close by. Traffic is less of a concern as it's always been a busy road.

Thanks.

Water John

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122439232#Comment_122439232

Prevailing wind direction?

Grassy Knoll

I understand them to be well established in other EU member states where they are well run and safe, we are late adopters - as is usual in a lot of developments. It is understandable there may be misapprehensions, if sited sensibly they should be green lighted - we are planning 130 across the State. Proximity to a gas grid connection and supply of inputs (slurry, organic matter etc) will be key. There will always be people who feel discommoded, good planning should seek to minimise this. However, the reality is unfortunately not everyone can be facilitated, the bigger picture needs to win out.

Water John

I'd be pro such environmental moves. However I think that 130 AD units are to replace 11% of gas in the network. If the major feed is grass grown with inorganic nitrogen, made from fossil fuels, then it would simply be greenwashing. Large pig farms seem an obvious location for some. Probably would lessen the smell in those situations. Worth looking at NI, especially as they would have similar rural house locating.

Rowley Birkin QC

It's probably also worth clarifying here, I'm not necessarily against this plant in principle. At the moment I'm trying to gather facts and information from people living nearby so that I can ultimately engage with the council and the developer in a meaningful way.

It's always telling to read planning files and see the disparity between the hysterical and well thought out observations. Ultimately, I think this plant will go ahead due to the proximity to a gas networks Ireland injection site and the existing infrastructure. What I'm trying to do is ensure that all disruption mitigation measures are in place from the get go.

Water John

Is there a better location you can point to?

selectamatic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122439179#Comment_122439179

I'd imagine they'll definitely be using waste from the creamery if they can. It's a wildly used feed for AD's.

I live about 8km from one. There were quite a few local objections at the time of it being built about 10 years ago but it went ahead anyway. As far as I know it's not awful near any houses and smell hasn't really been an issue, that said I'm not near enough to say that with confidence.

The digestate (waste product from the AD) is serious stuff to grow grass.

Rowley Birkin QC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122439672#Comment_122439672

Would you mind dropping me a PM on the location?

Thanks.

Hyland17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122439672#Comment_122439672

Using the washings from a creamery is savage stuff as the loadings are rich with micro organisms. The digestate is serious stuff on land . Turns it inside out. But Bord Bia are not fond of it as they say pathogens may cross over. Mix it with lactic acid and pathogens will be removed. Plenty of studies out there to prove it but they don't want to recognise it. Same for organics.

Hyland17

Another problem with being so close would be them plants can attract vermin. I know they control them on site but could be looking in across the ditch. Crows, rats mice etc

alps

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122439844#Comment_122439844

If digestate is to be land spread, it will need to be pasteurised. Will this process kill micro organisms?

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122439416#Comment_122439416

Thats the problem - grass fed ones are simply another version of the biofuel scam that is anything but green. Government said they can only operate with a charter that protects against impacts like further pollution pressures on local water resources etc. but their record to date on policing such things would not fill one with confidence😒

Hyland17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122440998#Comment_122440998

From the study I was reading it doesn't affect it to much. Still plenty of microbes active in the digestate. Prof Emanual Odi is the study I read. He's working out of Galway and I happened to get talking to him. Very interesting

148multi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122438611#Comment_122438611

The farmer in kildare won a case re Cpo for Intel, but I'm nearly sure the state changed the law so that the government can Cpo property for private industry now.

Silverdream

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122437571#Comment_122437571

150 meters from the OPs home. In fairness, what more do you need to know?

Aravo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122453850#Comment_122453850

I recall the land was CPO'd without a designated purpose at that time. Which was essentially land hoarding for the future.

tabby aspreme

It was an attempt by IDA executives to get the land for themselves, so they could then sell it on to Intel, not a state CPO

Say my name

And for context Intel are now contracting worldwide.

http://rte.ie/news/business/2024/0731/1462729-intel-to-cut-jobs-worldwide-reports/

It still should be noted how a site near a gas line will be gold dust for a digestor. Even though it looks like a site in Mayo were planning on building a pipeline could be 8 miles to the nearest gas line. But that brings problems in itself in achieving.

Say my name

It looks like there's a perception in developers for digestors in first built, best dressed in contracts to supply and contracts for feedstock.

Water John

That gas will only be pumped into the grid at specific points, I think. Think it will have to be transported from most AD plants to injection points. Am I correct?

blackdog1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122454706#Comment_122454706

Yes one of the main injection points will be Mitchelstown

Base price

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122453850#Comment_122453850

I don't thinks so. From memory, a few years ago the State (Green Party) and it's agencies tried to ram through a greenway across private bogland in the Midlands.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122441574#Comment_122441574

I don’t buy the greenwashing argument, a bigger picture is needed instead of throwing out buzz words, one huge benefit of this is a step towards self sufficiency of energy, it replaces imported gas.

Acknowledge that imported fuels will still be needed to run the plant, grow and transport but it’s a step in the right direction from full reliance on imported fossil fuels and over time with new technologies (eg gas lorries, batteries) we can also reduce the reliance in that area too.