Rich or poor? Who actually lives in proximity to AD plants in Wales?. (December 2020) - Martinát, Stanislav
Abstract: Many environmental benefits have been claimed for anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities, embracing waste management and multiple energy vectors (generating electricity, heat and useable gas) that could be help create more circular economies. Whether these benefits are realised depends greatly on the sites exploited for AD plants and the social and geographical conditions. To examine this we assess the distribution of AD plants in Wales and the socio-demographic characteristics of the populations that live in close proximity. The results show that farm-fed ADs are predominantly located in rural villages and sparsely-populated settings, while waste-fed AD plants could be found more evenly distributed in both rural villages, towns and cities. In addition, populations living in proximity to AD plants tend to be older, frequently in families without children, and without any central heating (or with central heating based on oil or solid fuels), in neighbourhoods experiencing deprivation in access to services. Our results are significant for our understanding who could be, both positively and negatively, affected by the AD operation and how these facilities could contribute to the social development of communities. Factors affecting the realization of prospective benefits from farm-fed ADs include public sensitivities to development in these 'rural idyll' locations, and the economics of using AD to re-tool energy systems in more sparsely populated rural sites. Highlights: Characteristics of population living around AD plants in Wales are studied. AD plants contribute to the creation of new circular economies in the countryside. In proximity of AD plants lives rather older population and families without children. In neighbourhoods of ADs deprivation in access to services was detected. There is a scope for policies to support usage of outputs of AD.