Illustration of a methanizer here installed on a farm in the Orne.

-

Chamussy / SIPA

  • An incident in a biogas plant generated pollution in the Aulne, a river in Finistère.

  • The anaerobic digestion process is widely encouraged by communities and popular with farmers.

  • The latter want to reassure about the safety of their installations.

The incident deprived 180,000 people of drinking water in the heart of August.

In Châteaulin (Finistère), the overflow from the tank of the Kastellin biogas plant seriously polluted the Aulne, a quiet river that crosses the Armorique regional park.

Pollution has also tarnished the image of anaerobic digestion, a process that transforms manure, slurry and waste from the food industry into gas.

Very largely subsidized by local authorities, anaerobic digestion is popular in Brittany, where more and more farmers are using it.

A means of enhancing their effluents but also an additional income which can be considerable as the purchase price is high.

After the incident, voices were raised to denounce "the risks" of anaerobic digestion for the environment.

The consumer defense association CLCV lodged a complaint against X after the pollution.

“Methanization has its usefulness and its raison d'être.

This incident is unfortunate, but it should not call the process into question, ”says Loïc Guines.

To reassure, the president of the Brittany Chamber of Agriculture relies on "regular checks" operated by the authorities.

And recalls that on farms “there are always people to work.

If there is a malfunction, the operator will see it quickly ”.

At the end of 2019, renewable gas represented ... 0.26% of natural gas consumption in France


(and nearly 15% in Denmark!),


Thanks to 123 injection sites.

pic.twitter.com/sk5K1j2nQ8

- Paul Neau (@PaulNeau) August 24, 2020

"We must learn the lessons"

At Châteaulin, the management of the biogas plant by the industrial company Engie was fully automated.

Since the incident, the station is still shut down.

“It reminds us that we are never safe from an accident.

We must learn the lessons, ”said Jean-Marc Onno.

This Morbihan pig breeder has been operating a methanizer for over ten years.

He, who lived in Germany for a long time, was then a pioneer in France.

“My approach was above all ecological.

I wanted to add value to the effluents.

Today, I can heat my buildings with biogas and I no longer use any fertilizers ”.

The one who became president of the association of Breton biogas farmers does not hide the economic interest of the process.

“It's financial security.

If I didn't have it, I'm not sure I would still be a breeder ”.

A charter to guarantee safety

Heavily subsidized, biogas also causes windfall effects that its association tries to regulate.

A charter dictating the proper conduct to be followed has been validated and around a hundred French operators have already adhered to it.

"Our goal is to exceed the 200 audited sites in 2021", explains Jean-Marc Onno.

The president of the chamber of agriculture applauds and warns.

“France wants to catch up with Germany and is putting substantial resources into investments and the price of buying back gas.

What raises me question is to see that for some peasants, it has become their main source of income ”.

The windfall effect should fall.

As with photovoltaics, the purchase price should soon drop.

Let us hope that the biogas sector will recover from it better than its solar counterpart.

Planet

Finistère: The methanizer at the origin of pollution forced shut down

Economy

Energy: how to choose a virtuous supplier in terms of electricity?

  • Gas

  • Planet

  • Agriculture

  • Pollution

  • Water

  • Methanization