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Anaerobic Biodigester in Long Crendon


Acorn Bioenergy wants to build a huge Anaerobic Biodigester plant at Hornage Farm on the B4011 just North of Long Crendon.  Plants like this produce methane gas from farm waste and other specially grown fuel crops then ship it by road to gas processing sites such as in Southampton or Banbury  The rationale for generating methane is that it produces less CO2 than natural gas when burnt so switching to methane use is a good thing. 

Unfortunately, there is a lot more to it than that, none of it good.

More HGV Traffic
To work efficiently, the anaerobic process must be continuous - you can't switch it on and off.  That means a constant supply of 'fuel', i.e. farm waste and fuel crops.  That fuel has to be delivered to the plants by road, which for the Hornage site would mean, according to Acorn, 140 HGV movements a day in and out of the site. That traffic will all use the B4011 and much of it will inevitably route through the small villages in the surrounding area, including Chearsley.
So a big increase in the already excessive volume of heavy vehicles through these villages, with all the consequential impact on air quality, damage to roads and infrastructure, and safety.

Visual Impact
The Hornage site would involve covering 15 acres of farmland in concrete to house 5 biodigester tanks, each 15m high. It is estimated that it would be visible from up to 10 miles away, representing a huge visual impact on the landscape.

Dubious Green Benefits
Whilst it’s true that methane emits less CO2 than an equivalent amount of natural gas when it is used, that is not the whole CO2 story for plants like this.  Additional CO2 release comes from:

  • the actual methane production process (bio digestion)
  • production of the concrete to build the plant (one-off but a large figure)
  • the ‘food miles’ consequences of importing food to replace the home-grown food no longer produced on land given over to grow the biodigester ‘fuel’

An estimate of the quantities of CO2 involved is available in a report produced by Chearsley Parish Council, and summarised in a short video.  The report concludes that overall, the Acorn Hornage plant would actually increase the amount of CO2 released relative to just burning natural gas.

If a plant like this must be built, it should be near a main route that can accommodate heavy vehicles without significantly damaging the local environment.  This proposal is the wrong site in the wrong place.

What do other people think?
Best answered by listening to what MP Greg Smith has to say on the subject.  He spoke on BBC South Today  last week, and has also recently released a short video that conveys the same messages.

What can you do?
The Acorn proposal is currently open for public consultation prior to a decision on the application by Bucks Council.  Click on the link then enter CM/0022/22 in the search window.  Instructions on how to submit a comment are given.  The closing date for comment was advertised as today but may be extended.  If you want to comment it may be safest to try and do so today. Or you could write directly to Bucks Council leader Martin Tett at [email protected]

You can also add your name to a public petition being organised by Oakley Parish Council on their Say No to Acorn website.
This excellent website is supported by Chearsley Parish Council, is the source of some of the detail here, and provides more insight into the proposal and its consequences.