The Site
The proposed site for the Carrstone Renewables facility is south of the A47, just off East Winch Road,1.2km south west of East Winch. It covers approximately 7 hectares.
Our biogas facilities are largely agricultural in nature, taking in energy crops and producing biogas and biofertiliser.
Local soil types are well suited to producing energy crops. There is existing demand for profitable break crops in sustainable rotations local to the proposed facility.
We sign long-term agreements with local farmers which guarantee our suppliers a known income for many years to come. At a time of increasing uncertainty around farm incomes, this has proved to be very welcome at our existing sites.
Reasons for choosing this site include:
• Accessibility to the A47.
• Proximity to a major gas pipe.
• The site is situated adjacent to an existing operational quarrying site.
• It is not in a conservation area, AONB or National Park.
• It would have a key role in reducing carbon emissions within the area.
• There is strong local interest in providing feedstock.
What is Proposed Here?
The site for Carrstone Renewables covers around 7 hectares.
Much of the site would be used for storage of the energy crops brought onto site, and of the biofertiliser (digestate); a valuable by-product of the biogas process. We would be able to store enough crops on site to keep the plant operational for four months at a time.
The conversion of crops into gas would take place in three sealed tanks. This conversion uses a process called anaerobic digestion which is a tried and tested method.
Because we are using crops and not waste products as the fuel there is no odour associated with the transportation of raw materials to the site, and very little with the production process.
Both biomethane and CO₂ are colourless and odourless, and there is very little odour associated with biofertiliser, which is kept in fully covered and sealed storage before being transported off site.
Plans for this plant include the ability to capture the CO₂ produced on site. This would be taken away and permanently stored in geological formations.
This process is called Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage, also known as BECCS.
Proposed site layout
Traffic Management and Site Hours
The Carrstone Renewables facility will be operational 24 hours a day throughout the year, continuously providing renewable energy for the local grid network.
Working hours for employees on the site will be limited to 7am to 7pm, with generally no vehicle movements outside these times. There may be exceptions to these hours twice a year at peak harvest times.
The site is accessible from the A47 via East Winch Road.
Energy crops would be brought to the site by HGVs from a radius of around 15 miles. To minimise traffic wherever possible, these HGVs would then be used to take biofertiliser off site.
As part of the planning application process, we will produce a Transport Assessment which will need to be approved by the local planning authority.
We have been in discussions with officers from the local highways authority, to ensure our proposals will be acceptable from a highways point of view.
Traffic management plans will be agreed with the authorities to cover both construction and day-to-day operations to ensure minimal disruption.
Carbon capture - Beyond Net Zero
Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage, or BECCS, is a way of permanently locking away atmospheric CO₂.
CO₂ will be absorbed by the growing crops, and captured during the anaerobic digestion process. With BECCS, this CO₂ will be taken out of the atmosphere permanently, reducing the amount of harmful greenhouse gases.
The CO₂ which results from biomethane production is gas which had, until recently, been in the atmosphere and the soil all around us until it was taken up by the energy crops as they grow.
This means that even without BECCS, biomethane production releases no more CO₂ than that which the energy crops captured only a matter of months previously.
The biomethane production process concentrates CO₂ in such a way that it can be liquefied and captured, which means that it can then be taken off site and locked away or utilised.
The CO₂ by-product created at the proposed Carrstone Renewables plant would be placed into permanent geological storage for many thousands, if not millions, of years. We expect the plant would capture more than 20,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year.
This takes us beyond net zero with a process which continually removes CO₂ from the atmosphere, helping to reverse GHG emissions.
