Brewing is a process that, in many ways, is not unlike the creation of biogas. While fermentation is not the same thing as anaerobic digestion, both involve the modification of natural processes in controlled environments in big tanks.
The final products are certainly different, with beer for people to drink and biogas for energy, but both have an important role to play in life. One to cheer people up with a tasty glass of something alcoholic and the other to cheer people up because it’s green energy and a great way of reducing carbon emissions.
Setting up either kind of production site involves tank fitting, but one brewery plans to do both. Suffolk-based Adnams is not about to stop making beer anytime soon, but it does intend to establish a new anaerobic digestion plant.
A New Plan Brewing Up
As the East Anglian Daily Times reported recently, Adnams held an open day for locals about its proposed new plant near Southwold. This would involve reviving a closed anaerobic digestion plant located next to its distribution centre at Reydon, in partnership with sustainable energy company Bio Capital, which already operates nine plants in the UK.
The facility was originally set up in 2010 but closed in 2017. However, it could be brought back into use just as new legislation requires local authorities to collect food waste separately from all households.
While breweries will produce some biowaste as a by-product of the brewing process, the Adnams scheme would involve using the site to process all the waste food that could be collected by the council and then transforming it into eco-friendly fuel.
Locals who attended the event were told that as well as the natural process of bugs devouring food waste and producing methane to be burned as carbon-free gas, the plant would also produce agricultural fertiliser, which Adnams will use to produce the carbon dioxide used in its drinks making process.
A Virtuous Circle As Well As Beer
Mike Fishwick, the chief operating officer at Bio Capital, told those attending the meeting: “Basically, you’ll be burning renewable, recyclable methane as produced on our plant. It’s a virtuous circle.”
Locals were also told any smell from the plant would be minimal and there would be just 12 vehicle movements to and from the plant per day, the equivalent of one per hour on a busy A road.
One objector suggested there might be a negative impact on tourism, but was advised that the plant will have minimal visible impact as it is located in a former quarry, which means it will not be visually prominent.
Adnams Chief executive Jenny Hanlan said the plant would help Adnams achieve a fifth of the progress it needs to get to net zero, using some of the energy generated at its distribution centre.
The brewery has already made a strong statement of commitment to sustainability and ethical conduct. This includes using UK-grown hops, with rye grown a few miles away and most of the barley coming from neighbouring Norfolk, all of which helps reduce food miles in acquiring produce.
Honey is sourced on-site at Reydon, which has its own beehive, while the building itself has a green roof to help encourage biodiversity. It has won a Queen’s Award for sustainability in enterprise three times, the most recent in 2020, so it may be hoping for a King’s award next.
This commitment may help in efforts to get the plant reopened and its capacity to process up to 49,000 tonnes of food waste may be invaluable in making the most of Suffolk’s leftovers.
Getting Through The Planning Process
Getting planning permission for such plants is not always easy, as was discovered recently by Future Biogas, which suffered a rejection of plans for a new facility in Lincolnshire by South Kesteven District Council after hundreds of local residents expressed opposition to the project. This was despite the council having declared a ‘climate emergency’.
However, in that case, the plant would have been an entirely new one and there were concerns about narrow lanes around the sites, not the major road at the Reydon facility. Moreover, the fact that the Suffolk site has already been used as an anaerobic digestion plant, is near a main road and is associated with a major modern employer may help.
If it does go ahead, it will certainly add an interesting new element to the work of the brewery, as those sinking pints of the prime product of the company may be sitting in a pub that is getting some of its energy from the very gas that the plant at Reydon is producing, while the gas in the drink they have will be a by-product of it all.
