Biodiesel Production
If you produce commercial quantities of biodiesel you will need an environmental permit from the Environment Agency.
Environmental permits come in three levels to suit the complexity of your business.
1. Low Impact Standard Rules. This is the simplest form of permit. The operation must meet all the low impact rules, must not be on or adjacent to a nature reserve, and use no more than 2000 tonnes per year of raw materials. The application/annual fees are £2545/500.
2. Low Impact Bespoke. This must meet only the low impact rules. It does not limit production levels, but the rules will restrict this in other ways – see for example the wastes and emissions allowed. Application/annual fees £2850/500.
3. Full Permit. Production is unlimited but operators will be judged by their use of materials, energy, and production of waste and other emissions. Fees are considerably higher and a higher degree of management control is required, and reflect the greater amount of risk to the environment . To determine the fees a scoring system is used which can vary considerably, but typically an operator moving up from low impact might pay application/annual fees £8000/3500.
As small producers increase their production levels they may find that they exceed the limits allowed under the low impact rules. Quite often the critical factor is the amount of waste they produce. Under low impact rules they are allowed to produce only 1 tonne per day. Once this is exceeded, a full permit is needed to continue production. A small site can upgrade and this can work out less costly than applying for a full permit at the outset.
The above applies only to chemical treatment to make biodiesel. Biodiesel made purely by physical means such as filtration and heating of vegetable oil does not need an environmental permit.
If you need a permit The Environment Agency will offer a substantial amount of free advice on making an application.
If however you find the process too complex and time consuming, Andrew Vevers Environmental Consultants will visit your site, discuss your process and submit all the required documents needed by the Environment Agency to process your application. They have to date submitted or been involved with 13 biodiesel permit applications throughout the country. None have been unsuccessful.
The application typically takes about 4-6 weeks to prepare, and can be shortened if the operator has a clear idea of how they want to lay out the process.
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