The Site
The proposed site for the Little Oak Biogas facility lies just off the A28 between Ashford and Bethersden, 1km to the east of Brissenden Green. It covers approximately 5.5 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 A28
• Proximity to a major gas pipe.
• The site is already well screened with existing woodland.
• 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 Little Oak Biogas covers around 5.5 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 six 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
One of Future Biogas’ other facilities: Egmere Energy, Norfolk.
One of Future Biogas’ other facilities, Redstow Renwables, Swaffham.
Traffic Management and Site Hours
The Little Oak Biogas 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 directly accessible off the A28, via a recently constructed access 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 be required to produce a Transport Statement which will need to be approved by the local 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.
At Little Oak Biogas, 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.
The CO2 by-product created at the proposed Little Oak Biogas plant would be placed into permanent geological storage for many thousands, if not millions, of years. We expect the plant would capture more than 15,000 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.
