Exploding the myths

The site is so big that it will be able to take material from London as well as greater Peterborough –

The energypark will work within a catchment area that includes the county and a 20 mile radius of the energypark. While it will not collect waste from London it would like to stop some of the 812,000 tonnes of London waste that entered Cambridgeshire landfills in 2006. Moving waste away from landfill to recycling with recovery is a driving force behind the development of the energypark. Over 350,000 tonnes has already been identified within 20 miles of the Facility.

The Park will ruin the Archaeology of the site –

This will not be the case, extensive studies approved by the City Council show there to be no archaeology on the energypark site. The structure of the soils and the position of the water table also suggests that there will be no impact to any off-site archaeology as a result of development. The energypark continues to monitor the water levels in the area and will work with Flag Fen to develop a solution to the existing hydrology problems the area has.

The Park is discouraging recycling –

The energypark is providing an environmentally friendly alternative to taking our waste to landfill and does not discourage recycling. On the contrary it encourages it by offering a safety net by recycling materials that residents believe are not recyclable. The energypark will also bring recycling processes to the city; these include glass for glass recycling and bio oil recycling. If the 650,000 tonnes processed were commercial/household waste around 30% would be recycled in the form of glass, metals and plastics. Peterborough Renewable Energy holds a strong vision for Peterborough to become the environmental capital of the UK and encourages recycling as a form of waste management.

The Park makes Peterborough the waste capital of the UK –

The energypark would actually substantiate a claim of being the recycling capital or the environment capital of the UK rather than the waste capital. A zero landfill option with renewable power for the city is undeniably a positive development for Peterborough.

The park will create unwanted traffic from Lorries in the City -

No. The waste and materials envisaged for the energypark are in the area now. However, the park will be served by up to 141 lorries per day between the hours of 7am and 7pm, increasing the traffic flow in the area by just 1-3% at peak times. This is significantly less than the traffic produced by any one of the city’s distribution/warehouse centres. The energypark could reduce traffic by stopping the export of our waste and recyclables out of the county ensuring that waste is dealt with locally.

There will be a smell from the site –

There will be little or no detectable odour from the site as all processing takes place inside pressure controlled buildings. Unlike the landfill or other centres waste will not be stockpiled in the open air.

There will be excessive noise from the site –

The potential impact of the development on residents and other land users has been assessed using existing noise data gathered at four locations around the site. Day time noise is dominated by traffic noise and there is some night time noise from the existing industrial sites, including the power station. Noise levels are expected to be at their highest during construction as a result of excavation and erection of structures. Construction contractors will be obliged to adhere to all current legislation and codes of best practice. Construction works will in addition be limited to working hours during the day. In operation the plant will not create a noise impact to residents.

The energypark will block out views of the city –

All current views of the city will remain. The energypark will shield some aspects of the existing Peterborough power station as a result of the proposed screening. The tallest buildings on the site measure 20 metres – well below the height of the existing power station. There will be 9 stacks 35m high. The energypark will not dwarf the Centrica power station or hide views of the Cathedral.

The plant will destroy the nature and wildlife on the site –

Surveys show the park will improve the areas ability to attract nature and wildlife a fact supported by Natural England whose responsibility it is to protect nature and wildlife. With the exception of some of the grass all other existing habitats will be kept during the development and then added to. In particular Padholme drain will be unaffected by this development. The development offers significant improvements with 3000+sq m of green and habitat roofs, ponds and reedbeds as well as a meadow corridor with black polars.

The technology is untested –

All three technologies are tried and tested and are being successful used around the world including the UK. The type of plasma we use has not be used in the UK but is operating in the USA, Japan and Taiwan

The energypark is a glorified name for an incinerator –

There are technology differences, but the principle difference between other waste to energy developments (be it gasification, pyrolysis, incineration or anaerobic digestion with energy recovery) and the energypark is that the energypark does not produce any waste itself. All other systems will have a residue of some description that will need further treatment or landfill. The inclusion of enhanced plasma in the energypark means not only does the energypark have no waste but also it will improve the quality and status of the original material received in a way that other waste to energy or energy from waste plants cannot do.