Bristol rejects 50-MW biomass plant

Bristol Biofuel Plant Rejection sparks sustainability debate over palm oil and Jatropha, deforestation risks, air pollution, and planning consent at Avonmouth, as W4B faces objections and EU biofuel monoculture concerns.

Plans for a 50-megawatt (MW) biomass plant in Bristol, England, have been shot down by the local council, despite support from council planners.

The £70 million (US $105.7 million) plant would have generated enough electricity to power more than 25,000 homes, but the council rejected the plans from W4B Limited on the grounds of sustainability, even as the UK approves a waste-burning power plant in other regions.

The plant had proposed to burn palm oil and Jatropha oil, which protest groups claimed would lead to deforestation and a negative impact on local crop-growing in countries such as Tanzania and Ghana that would supply the biofuel, rather than exploring waste-to-energy solutions that use non-food feedstocks.

W4B argued that the palm oil would come from sustainable sources and that most of the fuel for the plant would be derived from the poisonous Jatropha shrub, which can be grown on semi-arid land not used for crops. Despite this, the plant received more than 1,100 objections, many organized by UK-based eco-group Biofuel Watch, which wants the European Union to ban the growth of biofuels in mono-crop farms, and questions persist about burning woodchips in biomass generation today.

The plans came under a surprise attack in December, when Council Leader Barbara Janke said: "National planning law makes it difficult for councils to resist applications like this. However, a number of other councils in the UK have recently rejected biofuel plants, citing concerns about air pollution and environmental and human impacts. Ultimately, the decision in Bristol will rest with the planning committee, but I will be registering my own objection and I know that many of my colleagues will be following suit."

The Bristol plant was to be situated on a five-hectare site of an old chemicals plant in Avonmouth. The imported biofuels were to be transported from the nearby docks via an existing pipeline and would have been used by six 8.9-MW engines, reflecting how coal plants look to biomass in the UK today.

W4B has remained silent about the council's decision, but it is likely that the company will submit a reworked application, a move that worked recently in securing permission for a 17.8-MW biomass-fired plant at Portland Port in Dorset. The original planning permission was turned down by the Weymouth and Portland Borough Council in September 2009, but the proposed W4B plant received approval after resubmission last month, much like Drax's biomass plant cleared local planning earlier.

Biomass plants have become increasingly popular in the UK in recent years. German energy giant E.ON AG wants to build a 150-MW biomass-fired power plant at the Royal Portbury Dock near Bristol, while the government has given the green light for a 60-MW biomass power plant at a disused site in Tilbury Docks, Essex, in southeast England.

Last month, Danish energy company Dong Energy revealed plans to build a 300-MW biomass plant in Hull, England, underscoring how biomass gaining momentum in the UK across multiple projects.

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