Biofuels and NetRegs(& Business Gateway)

Alan Parnell

Overview of the legislation that may apply

Where to find guidance now

Where to find guidance in the future

There may be obligations under legislation such as: PPC Waste management licensing COMAH Controlled Activity Regulations (CAR) Waste Incineration Directive (WID) Animal By-Products Regulations (ABPR)

And almost certainly under: Duty of care Special Waste Regulations Oil Storage Regulations

Information on all of these topics is available on NetRegs

Requirements

If under PPC or WML then you need an environmental license before you can start operating

If WMX then you need to register an exemption with SEPA

If under CAR then depending on the scale of the activity you will need a licence, registration or follow a general binding rule

If COMAH you need to notify HSE & SEPA and then depending on scale prepare & submit a safety report for assessment before you can start

If WID then you need a PPC permit (as above) If ABPR you will need permission from Animal

Health as well as a licence from SEPA

Biodiesel: a case study

Making biodiesel from waste vegetable oils.

Uses physical and chemical processing (trans-esterfication)

Prescribed as an activity for control under PPC Part A as a chemical process. There is no lower throughput threshold

level

Biodiesel:a case study (2)

May not be a Chemical PPC activity if not commercial or at industrial scale.

SEPA undertook a review and with Scottish Government concluded that if capacity is less than 200 tonnes biodiesel production per year then would not be considered to be subject to PPC Part A

A new waste management exemption was issued to allow <200 tonnes per year biodiesel production without need of a licence (still require to comply with certain conditions and other legislation

SEPA Guidance for Small Scale Biodiesel Manufacture

Developments:

Gasification – producing kerosene for aircraft fuel usually from mixed wastes. Gasification and producing hydrocarbons both PPC part A activities

Anaerobic Digestion –producing syngas for gas engines or CHP. Traditional AD plants – WML or WMX. Animal by-products > 10 tonnes per day – PPC

Biomass – some large plants in operation – Stevenscroft and UPM Kynmee Irvine. PPC part A and WID controls, but depends on scale.

Bio fuel – Is it still a waste?

Treating or processing a waste material does not mean that the ”product” will automatically be considered to be fully recovered and not a waste

Several tests have to be applied Guidance on ‘Is it waste?’ on SEPA’s website If product still considered to be a waste then burning as

a fuel will require PPC Part A permit with WID controls

Example Biodiesel made from vegetable oils and tallow by

Argent Energy – not a waste (other outputs might be still a waste e.g. residues). Biodiesel produced can be blended with fossil diesel at the refinery with no further environmental licence controls required

Advice

Complex area

Speak to local SEPA office…

NETREGS: netregs.gov.uk…

SEPA website – position statements; contacts for offices etc….

NetRegs

UK wide project supported by EA, NIEA and SEPA

Online environmental guidance Main audience – SMEs with no direct contact

with the regulators Written in clear, plain English Describes “what you must do” Includes good practice - concerned with

business benefits such as resource efficiency Up to date, free to use

Main types of guidance on NetRegs

Guidance by business typeFor example “Recycling and reprocessing

businesses”

Guidance by environmental topicFor example Biofuels for transport, Oil storage,

COMAH

Environmental legislationCurrent legislation lists and future legislation

such as consultations and EU directives

Guidance on NetRegs/Business Gateway

Links will be provided from NetRegs as content is ‘switched off’

Legislation pages with current legislation lists – grouped and with short summaries still on NetRegs

Business topics (sector guides) moving to Business Gateway between now and September

New development – i-green project – new technology to deliver guidance through different media

www.netregs.gov.uk

i-green summary

2 national surveys of business awareness (benchmarking and evaluation)

1 piece of detailed national geo-demographic market research

multiple targeted marketing campaigns, both National and Regional

1 pilot of a customer intelligence system 5 key product developments:

1.- simple EMS legislation list generator (site specific)2.- use images and video to deliver advice and guidance rather than text

3.- personalisation of advice and guidance to customer needs

4.- on site checklists delivered to mobile phone

5.- expand the current pilot online learning tools – new topics and sectors