Anaerobic Digestion is the natural process used for the reduction of solids volume, which is frequently applied in large scale wastewater treatment plans and in the agricultural industry. In this process, microorganisms break down organic matter in the absence of oxygen to produce an energy rich biogas.

Anaerobic digestion takes 15 to 40 days and can be applied to many types of waste organic material such as food waste, offal, green waste and manure for the production of useful biogas and digestate. Anaerobic digestion is a key part of the circular economy and is a critical technology for decarbonising gas supplies.

Biogas is combusted to generate heat and electricity, which can replace fossil fuels whilst preventing methane, a very potent greenhouse gas, from escaping into the atmosphere.

The main benefits of anaerobic digestion are:

• Sustainable use of animal and food wastes
• Helps reduce GHG emissions by capturing methane and offsetting fossil fuels
• Reduces waste to landfill
• Produces biogas, which is a renewable source of energy
• Biogas can reduce a facility’s energy costs e.g. via generating electricity with any excess sold to the energy grid.

Whilst there are many benefits to anaerobic digestion, there are some environmental risks and so they commonly need to be approved under planning and environmental laws.  A key air quality risk is odour emissions and nuisance in the community.

Katestone has had extensive experience with the assessment and management of odours from industrial and agricultural activities. Studies have involved comprehensive monitoring programs and data analysis, or emissions estimation and forecasting through state-of-the-art meteorological and air dispersion models.

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