by Keith Findlay (The Press and Journal) A company striving to produce clean, green biogas using crops as well as by-products from local farms and distilleries has unveiled plans for a £55 million investment in the Highlands. Acorn Bioenergy is seeking planning consent from Highland Council for an anaerobic digestion plant on an 18.5-acre site at Fearn airfield, near Balintore, in Easter Ross.
The £25m facility, which Acorn hopes will be operational by 2024, is expected to create 15 full-time jobs and around 100 during its construction.
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The company already has accreditation to inject about 176,600 cubic feet of biomethane into Scotland’s gas grid to heat homes, power heavy goods vehicles and help meet the pressing need for greater UK energy security.
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She (Acorn business development manager Natalie Dillon) added: “Anaerobic digestion is a tried-and-tested, centuries old technology that can produce clean, green energy to heat homes and power HGVs.
“We have identified areas in Scotland where agriculture and distilleries are a significant part of the landscape, and would like to work with farmers and distillers to offer an alternative source of secure income, with longevity, in return for feedstock.”
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Ms Dillon said that as well as helping decarbonise important sectors such as agriculture and the whisky industry, Acorn’s plans for the north could make a “significant” contribution to Highland Council’s target of a carbon-neutral Inverness in a low-carbon region by 2025.
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It will need reliable supplies of raw materials such as energy crops, silages, straw and waste, as well as draff and pot ale from local distilleries, to feed its five digestion tanks.
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As a by-product of the gas production process, the facility would produce digestate fertiliser for use on farms as a greener alternative to traditional fossil fuel-based products.
Biomethane produced on the site would also be available as an alternative, green gas fuel supply to distilleries to help them achieve net-zero targets in their heating processes. READ MORE
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