AN application for a biogas plant, capable of supplying enough gas for 3,200 homes, has been submitted to Mid Devon District Council.

Representatives from Lords Meadow Biogas have been visiting local parish councils to discuss the project.

The full planning application, which has been submitted to the planning authority, includes construction of an anaerobic digestion plant comprising a digester, storage areas, innovative pre and post treatment equipment and two smaller process tanks, provisions and vehicular access, infrastructure works, tree planting, landscaping and other associated works on land belonging to the Downes Estate at the end of Lords Meadow Industrial Estate, Crediton.

Farmer and businessman Graham Kerslake, one of those involved with Lords Meadow Biogas, said that the advanced technology plant will be “super green”, adding that the process will be odourless, and there will be just an average of six deliveries of materials to fill the digester each day.

Talking exclusively to the “Courier”, he said that there will be no traffic through Crediton High Street, with deliveries being made from adjacent farms and businesses using the Link Road and A3072 to access the site.

FARM WASTE

Mr Kerslake said that the bulk of the material to produce the energy will be from farming by-products such as waste grain, waste straw, waste vegetables, brewery waste and horse manure, apple pulp from a local cider firm, and some grown energy crop.

He said that the tank in which the material is turned into power is airtight, meaning that no gasses will escape, making the production method odourless and silent.

He explained: “Using by-products of farming will be the main driver of this plant. We intend to produce 600 cubic meters per hour of renewable gas which will be injected directly into the Wales and West Utilities pipeline, which runs directly adjacent the site.”

GREEN ENERGY

“The plan should appeal to anyone who is environmentally-minded and will see the benefits of using by-products to produce green energy” he went on to say, “not only will the facility produce renewable gas, it will also produce a low volume of concentrated bio-fertiliser, which will be used by the farm to grow crops, this bio-fertiliser eliminates the need for the farm to buy in expensive, chemical fertilisers that in themselves use a huge amount of energy from fossil fuel sources to produce.

“We will also be planting about 150 trees to screen the site and to provide new ecological habitats.”

Mr Kerslake said that another facility using similar European technology, operates in Wales proving the technology.

He added that he expected the grass crop for the plant to come from fields in close proximity, possibly transported across farmland and not on highways. It is understood that the products will be transported by a mix of commercial vehicles and agricultural tractor and trailer’s to the site.

Mr Kerslake said a previous plan for an anaerobic digester submitted to Mid Devon District Council two years ago had been withdrawn and the new revised plan was more sustainable and future-proofed.

He hoped that when up and running, students will be able to visit the site to see what can be achieved and learn how renewable gas can be produced via a carbon neutral process.

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