Bioethanol Production Plant Non - Technical Summary pdf

Delivering sustainable solutions in a more competitive world Bioethanol Production Plant Non-Technical Summary December 2007 www.erm.com Environmental Resources Management Limited Incorporated in the United Kingdom with registration number 1014622 Registered Office: 8 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0ER Vivergo Fuels Ltd Bioethanol Production Plant: Non-Technical Summary December 2007 Reference 0067426 Prepared by: Dave Ackroyd & Charles Wood This report has been prepared by Environmental Resources Management the trading name of Environmental Resources Management Limited, with all reasonable skill, care and diligence within the terms of the Contract with the client, incorporating our General Terms and Conditions of Business and taking account of the resources devoted to it by agreement with the client. We disclaim any responsibility to the client and others in respect of any matters outside the scope of the above. This report is confidential to the client and we accept no responsibility of whatsoever nature to third parties to whom this report, or any part thereof, is made known. Any such party relies on the report at their own risk. For and on behalf of Environmental Resources Management Approved by: Dave Ackroyd Signed: Position: Partner Date: 11 December 2007 CONTENTS 1 NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY I 1.1 INTRODUCTION I 1.2 THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT III 1.3 SHORT TERM CONSTRUCTION EFFECTS VIII 2 LONG TERM OPERATIONAL EFFECTS XIV 2.2 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS XIX This page is intentionally blank ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT VIVERGO FUELS LTD I 1 NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY 1.1 I NTRODUCTION This document is a summary, in non-technical language, of the Environmental Statement, undertaken by Environmental Resources Management (ERM) for a Joint Venture, Vivergo Fuels Ltd (Vivergo). It supports a planning application for a Bioethanol plant within the existing BP Chemicals site in Saltend, Hull (see Figure 1.1 for a plan showing the location of the site and Figure 1.2 showing the site boundary). The scheme falls under Schedule I of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 and therefore an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required. The Environmental Statement (ES) reports the findings of the EIA. The key objectives of the EIA have been to: In accordance with best practice and Government Guidance, consultation has been undertaken as part of the EIA process with those agencies and parties likely to have an interest in the proposed project. • establish and review the existing, or baseline, environmental conditions and policies which are relevant to the site of the scheme and the surrounding area; • identify and assess the environmental effects of the activities involved in construction and operation of the proposed scheme; • develop, in conjunction with Vivergo, measures that will be taken to remove, minimise or reduce these effects to acceptable levels; and • provide a framework for consultation with public authorities and interested parties. CLIENT: SIZE: TITLE: DATE: 07/12/2007 DRAWN: IG CHECKED: APPROVED: PROJECT: 0067426 SCALE: 1:100,000 DRAWING: REV: Vivergo Fuels A4 Figure 1.1 Location of Proposed Site ES_OverviewOfSite.mxd 0 SOURCE: Reproduced from Ordnance Survey digital map data. © Crown copyright, All rights reserved. 2007 License number 0100031673. PROJECTION: British National Grid File: 0067426BPSaltEnd_ GIS\Maps\ES\ES_Ove rviewOfSite.mxd ERM Eaton House Wallbrook Court North Hinksey Lane Oxford, OX2 0QS Telephone: 01865 384800 Facsimile: 01865 204982 . 0 2 Kilometres © ERM This print is confidential and is supplied on the understanding that it will be used only as a record to identify or inspect parts, concepts or designs and that it is not disclosed to other persons or to be used for construction purposes without permission. Leeds Lille LONDON Dublin Cardiff Belfast Glasgow Liverpool Birmingham Edinburgh Sheffield Manchester Le Havre SITE LOCATION KEY: Permanent Site Boundary Temporary Site Boundary ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT VIVERGO FUELS LTD III 1.2 T HE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 1.2.1 Background The economic market for bioethanol is based largely on the fact that in April 2006, the UK Government announced the introduction of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) that will require the incorporation of biofuels into existing road transport fuels from 2008. The target for fuel blending in the first year is 2.5% rising to 3.75% in 2009 and reaching 5% in 2010. The RTFO has been introduced by the UK government in response to European Union (EU) legislation (Article 3 of Directive 2003/30/EC) that requires that Member States promote the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport such that: • “1. (a) Member States should ensure that a minimum proportion of biofuels and other renewable fuels is placed on their markets, and, to that effect, shall set national indicative targets. • (b) (i) A reference value for these targets shall be 2 %, calculated on the basis of energy content, of all petrol and diesel for transport purposes placed on their markets by 31 December 2005. • (ii) A reference value for these targets shall be 5.75 %, calculated on the basis of energy content, of all petrol and diesel for transport purposes placed on their markets by 31 December 2010.” This EU commitment has, more recently, been extended and strengthened in “The Energy Challenge” (2006) which announced the Government’s intention to exceed the targets set out in the RTFO. The proposed Vivergo project will contribute towards achievement of these targets by making bioethanol available for addition to petrol by 2010. In addition, wheat is one of the most reliable and productive crops to be grown in the UK, and the country as a whole produces an exportable surplus. The production of bioethanol will provide a new market for wheat, helping to sustain the regional farming economy. The decision to locate the Project in the Hull area is based, in part, on the fact that the region is a significant wheat producing area with approximately 700,000 tonnes of wheat being exported from the Humber ports annually. 1.2.2 Project Description The proposed Bioethanol development site consists of an approximately 13 ha development which is currently unused ‘brownfield’ land located, within the eastern portion of the wider BP Saltend site. The bioethanol development comprises a main central processing area (10 ha) and two much smaller satellite areas (approximately 1 ha each) to provide bioethanol storage and road tanker loading facilities. The three sites will be joined by interconnecting pipelines and cables. Further pipelines/cables will be required to connect the main site to the necessary BP Saltend utilities. CLIENT: SIZE: TITLE: DATE: 10/12/2007 DRAWN: IG CHECKED: CW APPROVED: PROJECT: 0067426 SCALE: 1:6,000 DRAWING: REV: KEY: Vivergo Fuels A4 Figure 1.2 Bioethanol Plant Layout ES_SiteLayout.mxd 0 Permanent Site Boundary Temporary Site Boundary SOURCE: Reproduced from Ordnance Survey digital map data. © Crown copyright, All rights reserved. 2007 License number 0100031673. PROJECTION: British National Grid File: 0067426BPSaltEnd_ GIS\Maps\ES\ES_SiteLayout.mxd ERM Eaton House Wallbrook Court North Hinksey Lane Oxford, OX2 0QS Telephone: 01865 384800 Facsimile: 01865 204982 . 0 150 Metres © ERM This print is confidential and is supplied on the understanding that it will be used only as a record to identify or inspect parts, concepts or designs and that it is not disclosed to other persons or to be used for construction purposes without permission. Main Processing Site Ethanol Storage Area Tanker Loading Site [...]... of the proposed Bioethanol plant; therefore no adverse residual impacts are anticipated No impacts are predicted to occur to listed buildings, Conservation Areas or Historic Parks and Gardens as none are within a kilometre of the proposed site 2.1.4 Ecology and Nature Conservation The operation of the Bioethanol plant on its own will not result in any significant ecological impacts The Bioethanol development... dust mitigation measures (ie dust filtering system) that will be in place High efficiency de-dusting cyclones will be fitted to control dust emissions from the dryers Stack/ Vent Emissions The incremental emissions to air from the operation of the proposed Bioethanol plant station are expected to result in non- significant impact to human health as the predicted Ground Level Concentrations are well within... process will be the civil engineering works required to level and prepare the site such that the infrastructure required for the Bioethanol plant can be constructed and installed ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT VIVERGO FUELS LTD V Figure 1.3 3D Computer Model of the Bioethanol Plant Ethanol Storage DDGS Storage Distillation Columns Waste Water Treatment Fermentation Dryers Liquefraction Wheat Storage... approximately 18 months, with mechanical engineering completion and commissioning scheduled for Dec 2009 The plant is proposed to be operational by January 2010 1.2.3 Planning and Land Use A review of the relevant policy documents has been undertaken The proposed Bioethanol plant is fully in accordance with land-use allocations and environmental criteria in National Planning Policy Guidance/Statements, the Regional... ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT VIVERGO FUELS LTD XIII 2 LONG TERM OPERATIONAL EFFECTS 2.1.1 Socio-economics It is estimated by Vivergo that approximately 80 permanent jobs will be created by the project, of which 50 will be operational shift workers required on site plant operation and maintenance The Bioethanol plant will also provide indirect employment through use of hauliers, engineering contractors... location of the various Bioethanol plant areas is shown in Figure 1.2 The main elements of the plant will consist of: • • • • • Wheat storage silos, approximately 34 m high; Dried Distillers Grains loading silos, approximately 36 m high; Distillation columns, approximately 34 m high; Vents; approximately 25 m high; and General buildings; approximately 10 m high A computer model of the plant is shown in Figure... activities) proposed in the main process area is as follows and described in Figure 1.3: • • • • • • • Wheat Unloading and Storage; Wheat Milling; Ethanol Process Area; - Liquefaction; - Fermentation; - Distillation & Dehydration; - Evaporation; Decantation; Dried Distillers Grains (DDGS) Drying; DDGS Pelletizing; and Wet Cake / Syrup / DDGS Storage and loading There will be two sites allocated for... breeding bird species Once operational there will be no habitat within the development site to support bird species, and the Bioethanol plant will not have significant impacts on birds using surrounding habitats The findings of the assessment indicate that on its own, the bioethanol plant will not have a significant impact on important habitats for nature conservation, especially sand dunes and saltmarsh... Noise levels from routine operation of fixed plant is not likely to result in significant off-site noise effects either at residential locations or at the SSSI/SPA at Saltend mud flats Noise levels from the operation of the plant are predicted to produce a Slight to Negligible impact In order to control noise emissions during the operational phase, standard on-site noise control measures will be employed... and from the site will be considered SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Having regard to the assessment contained in the ES, it is not considered that the proposed Bioethanol plant will have either significant long or short term adverse effects on atmospheric emissions, traffic, noise and vibration, nature conservation and biodiversity, land contamination water resources, socio-economics or archaeology and cultural . Delivering sustainable solutions in a more competitive world Bioethanol Production Plant Non- Technical Summary December 2007 www.erm.com Environmental Resources. Registered Office: 8 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0ER Vivergo Fuels Ltd Bioethanol Production Plant: Non- Technical Summary December 2007 Reference 0067426 Prepared by: Dave Ackroyd &. ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT VIVERGO FUELS LTD I 1 NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY 1.1 I NTRODUCTION This document is a summary, in non- technical language, of the Environmental Statement, undertaken