Acorn will produce biomethane, a green gas, which is injected into the national grid to heat homes. At the Spring Grove site, Acorn will create enough biomethane to provide heating for over 7,000 homes (specifically 7,650 UK households based on 14.1MWh/y per household)

Recent shortages in CO2 have made it difficult to add bubbles to pints, provide dry ice for food deliveries and provide CO2 to greenhouses. This has contributed to inflated supermarket prices.

Acorn will capture biogenic CO2, a form of CO2 which has been captured from the atmosphere and supply it to industry. This is far more sustainable than fossil-based sources and can replace fossil-based CO2.

Unlike solar and wind, anaerobic digestion benefits wider industries beyond renewable energy.

Anaerobic digestion allows local farmers to incorporate a break crop into their rotation which is effective at eliminating pests and weeds to enhance food production.

In addition, digestate is an organic fertiliser improves soil health and structure whilst reducing leaching and water pollution. It is also cheaper and more sustainable than artificial fertilisers.

The planning application can be found on this link here.

Since the public consultation in September, Acorn has been working hard to minimise any negative impact on local residents through updates to the scheme. These are detailed in further FAQs below.

There are multiple opportunities associated with Acorn’s proposed site including the creation of new jobs (up to 4-5 onsite workers and 15 contractors) and over 100 in the construction phase. Acorn aims to employ local workers including engineers, plumbers and electricians.

Acorn will also improve the local environment through use of digestate, which enhances soil health and nutrient retention to prevent water pollution.

Acorn’s site will also create opportunities for educational trips to learn about green energy and regenerative agriculture.

Acorn will also supply local biogenic CO2 meaning businesses like pubs, glasshouses, breweries and construction companies can benefit economically and help to bring food and beverage prices down.

There is a similar plant called The Euston Biogas Plant, located near Thetford, Suffolk.

Acorn will use a mixture of break crops, sourced within a 10-mile radius, and agricultural waste including farm yard manure.

Acorn will be ISCC accredited which is a third-party certification system that evidences that all feedstocks are sustainable and do not interfere with food production.

Acorn has spoken to several local farmers who are willing to provide feedstock for the AD plant.

Acorn’s lighting strategy is compliant with best-practice criteria by ensuring there is no intrusive light, glare or sky glow that would have an impact on residents who live nearby the site. Acorn will ensure all mitigations are in place.

The noise impact of our sites has been modelled by SLR consulting. The conclusions state that the noise impact will be non-intrusive and does not affect the character of the area at both daytime and nighttime.

The site would be constructed and operated using best practice and with appropriate health and safety management systems in place. Similar plants have an excellent health and safety record.

Anaerobic digestion is a mature and well understood technology with over 650 operating plants in the UK.

Acorn is aware that some residents are concerned about flood risk in Haverhill because of the proposed developments. Acorn’s consultant concluded that there will be no measurable increase in flood risk to residents in Haverhill. In fact, the implementation of flood management mitigations to manage any flood risk onsite will result in a reduction in flood risk downstream from the site.

All key elements of the development are located outside of any zones at risk from flooding of more than once in 100 years and climate change has been taken into consideration.

In addition, Acorn will use rainwater within the process to ensure sustainable water usage.

Acorn will provide carbon emission reporting in line with government guidelines for the non-domestic renewable heat incentive which is regulated by OFGEM.

This accounts for all of the process emissions associated with the scheme including but not limited to:

- All transport operations including feedstock, digestate and gas

- Use of fertilisers, pesticides and importation emissions from the feedstock

- The use of CHPs to power the anaerobic digester

After calculating all of the process emissions, Acorn’s process is carbon negative. This is because all of Acorn’s feedstocks have absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere to form the building blocks of the feedstock, including sugar, protein and fat. These building blocks are then broken back down into biomethane and biogenic CO2 by microbes. As the biogenic CO2 is captured, this makes Acorn’s process carbon-negative.

Acorn also provides significant emissions savings through replacing natural gas, a fossil-based unsustainable source of gas in the national grid.

Now the application is submitted and live on the planning portal, Acorn expects a decision will be made by September 2024. If planning permission is granted, the plant will be operational approximately a year later in mid-late 2025.