Environmental impact assessment of municipal biogas plants – case study

Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Building Services, Hydro and Environmental Engineering, 20 Nowowiejska St., 00-653 Warsaw, Poland

^* Corresponding author: marta.wisniewska.89@wp.pl

Abstract

Biogas plants processing the municipal waste are an important element of both municipal and energy management. Planned projects very often face objection from the public. The reluctance of people to accept this type of investment as a project potentially having a significant impact on the environment is caused by the fear of its nuisance. At the end of 2017, eight municipal biogas plants were operating in Poland. Before opening the biogas plants, residents were afraid of the related odours. The research involved the analysis of the occurrence of residents’ complaints regarding the odour nuisance of municipal biogas plants to the authorities. Moreover, potential sources of anthrax associated with the operation of municipal biogas plants were identified. Based on the example of one of the plants, the applied deodorisation methods were presented, as well as the results of the odorimetric tests performed by an external laboratory. The paper presents positive ecological aspects of municipal biogas plants which apart from being a renewable energy source, are also important for reducing the amount of waste disposal.