BIOGAS BORNHOLM
Our goal: ‘To oppose the expansion of Bigadan’s biogas plant in Aakirkeby (on the island of Bornholm in Denmark) and inform the local community about the potential outcomes of such an expansion.’
The Biogas Bornholm pressure group was created by a group of neighbours in October 2023. We feel that, despite participating in several consultations and meetings, our concerns have been ignored or not taken seriously by local politicians and councillors. In order to really change the minds of those local politicians and councillors, we need to inform the wider public about our concerns and in doing so, hopefully raise general awareness of the issues surrounding biogas in general, and the biogas expansion in Aakirkeby in particular
Become a member!
No matter where you are, you can support our cause by joining up and becoming a member. Simply put, the more members we have, the more seriously we will be taken. We hope that our members will be engaged with our fight, and help to spread the word. Membership is, of course, free – and all you need to do is enter your name (navn) and email address here and – you’re a member. You can also subscribe to our blog/newsletter here, which will be sent directly to your mailbox.
Contact us!
You can send us a message of support or ask us a question here.
Timeline/overview
2004 – the first thoughts about building a biogas plant on Bornholm were put forward.
2005 – work began on building the present biogas plant (then managed by Østkraft – the local energy provider)
2011 – after several years of operating at a loss, the plant was saved by direct funding from the state
2015 – the plant finally records a profit
2019 – the plant was bought by Bigadan, the present owners
2023 – Bigadan announces plans to expand the plant and increase capacity from 120,000 tons to 600,000 tons
2023 – The consultation process begins, resulting in the planning process for the expansion being passed by the local council
2023 – November – Biogas Bornholm launched
Why are we against the expansion?
- Biogas is not green energy – once you take into account all of the factors surrounding the creation of biogas (production and transport of animal food to create animal manure, methane leakage, environmental costs of building biogas plants and so on) it is far from being a green or sustainable energy source.
- The biogas expansion will lock us into environmentally damaging farming practices – 14.5 % of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to livestock farming. Denmark has the highest number of pigs per capita in the world, and Bornholm has one of the highest pig concentrations in Denmark. There are over 600,000 pigs hidden in sheds on Bornholm. The expanded biogas plant will be ‘fed’ with over 500,000 tons of pig manure (over 83 % of the total). We believe that, instead of creating a situation where an expanded plant biogas plant will need to be fed by the manure of over half a million pigs in perpetuity, it is more environmentally sustainable and, indeed, ambitious, to instead reduce Bornholm’s C02 by other means (by supporting vegetable-based farming, for instance). An expanded biogas plant runs in direct contrast to Bornholm’s efforts to market itself as a ‘Bright Green Island’ with sustainability at its core.
- Traffic – the expanded biogas plant will be fed by over 90 huge manure lorries every day, six days a week. A new road will be created to accommodate this increase, and the impact this will have on the local areas will be significant. Increased traffic, road repairs (over the whole island) and potential danger due to the placement of the proposed road are some of our concerns.
- Placement – the placement of the proposed expansion is problematic to say the least. Despite guidelines from the Environmental Ministry suggesting that a biogas plant should not be built closer than 300 m to a single dwelling, or 500 m to a collection of dwellings, the proposed plant is 145m from the nearest dwelling, and there are no less than 11 dwellings within a 500m radius. Furthermore, the proposed expansion will reflect negatively on the area’s biodiversity (both great crested newts and tree frogs, protected by Danish and European law, breed in the area) not to mention concerns about the potential loss of cultural artefacts and historic buildings.
- Smell and noise – from the very early days there have been complaints about the smell and noise emanating from the existing plant. The increase in size and capacity of the proposed expanded plant will result in an increase in emissions, and we believe it will be impossible for Bigadan to keep within legal levels.
- Eyesore in the landscape – the proposed expansion will cover over 5 hectares and include six towers measuring 27 m in height and 24 m in width, a 35 m chimney, and dozens of other buildings and structures. Bigadan say they will ‘hide’ the expanded plant behind trees or embankments, but we propose that this will be impossible due to the size of the plant, the small size of their plot, and Bigadan’s poor track record in ‘hiding’ their plants. Bigadan maintain that the biogas plant will contribute to ‘business-tourism’ to Bornholm. We believe the exact opposite is true – that an expanded biogas plant will be a huge eyesore in the landscape, and will result in the obliteration of Bornholm’s attempts to brand itself as a ‘Bright Green Island’.
- Compensation? Incredibly, despite the huge sums of money the biogas industry receives directly from the state, there are no laws in place to compensate homeowners for the potential loss of value to their homes – in contrast to a rigorous compensation structure set up for neighbors to windmills and solar panel farms. Local politicians make ‘encouraging noises’ when confronted by the media, but nothing is being done.
Visualisations
Check out our ‘before and after’ visualisations of the proposed expanded plant.
In the media
Links to (Danish) local news covering the proposed expansion can be found here
If you want to know more
Lots of ‘further reading’ links (mostly Danish) can be found here, but here are some articles in English about biogas in general.
Intensive animal farming emissions https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/cop26-overlooks-biggest-source-methane-emissions-intensive-animal-farming-largely-ignored
A pathway to carbon neutral agriculture in Denamrk (see ‘digesters’ page 72 – 79) https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2021-05/carbon-neutral-agriculture-denmark.pdf?VersionId=LRoNzLYZUZW1qHDMm3yMdgtefm5O2PRj
The false promises in Biogas – why it is an environmental issue – https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/env.2021.0025
BBC article praising Bornholm’s green initiatives (with a very uncritical glance at biogas!) https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231025-bornholm-the-danish-island-aiming-for-zero-waste
Friends of the Earth’s stance on Biogas – https://cdn.friendsoftheearth.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/policy-position-bioenergy-79907.pdf
Greenpeace and Biogas – https://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/issues/climate-energy/46068/eu-must-phase-out-gas-not-shop-around-for-more/
Greenpeace biogas analysis (biogas without manure?) – https://www.ea-energianalyse.dk/en/cases/biogas-analysis-for-greenpeace/
Biogas Bornholm 