Policy EA PUBLISHES UPDATED PERMITS FOR DIGESTATE
At the beginning of the year, the Environment Agency (EA) published several updated Standard Rules permits that cover the storage and spreading of digestate. The permits that have been updated are: • SR2010 No.4 Mobile Plant for Landspreading • SR2010 No.5 Mobile Plant for Reclamation, Restoration or Improvement of Land
• SR2010 No.6 Mobile Plant for Landspreading of Sewage Sludge • SR2010 No.17 Storage of Digestate from Anaerobic Digestion Plants
Only the amended rule sets are now available for new applications. For existing permits, there is a three-month transition period from the date of publication of the updated Standard Rules.
The permits are all available to download from the EA’s website –
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency
If you have any queries or experience any issues with the updated permits, please contact our Environment and Regulations Manager:
jessica.allan@
adbioresources.org
ADBA WELCOMES RHI ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALLS FOR NEW BIOGAS POLICY
In mid-December, BEIS finally published its much anticipated response to its consultation on the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). The release of the intentions for the scheme going forward has brought a degree of certainty to the AD industry, with many projects on hold awaiting this crucial decision. Biomethane and biogas have been real success stories of the RHI, and the continuation of this scheme will allow the UK AD industry to build upon its success to date.
We were pleased to see that the new ministers in BEIS remain committed to decarbonising heat in the UK and continuing to support the UK’s burgeoning green gas industry. The resetting of tariff levels should support higher levels of deployment in 2017, although we believe that the restrictions on feedstock for new plants are not justified and could have unintended consequences.
The introduction of tariff guarantees is extremely welcome and we will continue to work with government and with our members to ensure the UK AD industry keeps growing and reaches its full potential – for example, by calling for urgent action on food waste collections in England.
BEIS also finally released its response to the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) consultation in February. The response will bring in slightly higher tariffs for AD than those proposed in the consultation, whilst sustainability criteria and crop restrictions will also be introduced. The FIT is now likely to be closed to new applications sometime next year.
Although it is positive to have certainty over the future of the FIT, and of course the slightly higher tariffs, we are now calling on BEIS to consider the future of support for farm and waste-based AD as the end of the FIT nears, given that government cannot meet its emissions reduction targets without biogas. Ofgem’s FIT deployment queue shows that the government response to the FIT consultation has not led to a rush to apply to the scheme, so new support for AD needs to be developed as soon as possible, in order to be in place by the time the FIT is closed.
To discuss the RHI or FIT, contact
thom.koller@adbioresources.org
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AD & BIORESOURCES NEWS | SPRING 2017
www.adbioresources.org adbioresources.org
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