Castilla-La Mancha has become one of the biogas epicenters in Spain with the processing of a total of 71 large-scale biogas and biomethane plants spread across its five provinces. The deployment, linked to the Regional Biomethanization Plan The European funds have already sparked debate about how to manage organic waste, what energy model to promote, and who will bear the impacts on the territory.
Two visions coexist on the table: on the one hand, the Regional government defends These are necessary infrastructures for treating millions of tons of slurry, manure, sludge, and other waste; on the other hand, neighborhood platforms such as Stop Industrial Livestock Farming Various health and environmental groups warn of a possible biogas "bubble", environmental and health risks, and a planning process they consider oversized and lacking in public participation.
A map of 71 projects: where the large-scale plants are concentrated
According to the data collected by Stop Industrial Livestock Farming in Castilla-La Mancha Based on official records, they are currently being processed 71 projects for large-scale biogas and biomethane plants at different administrative levels. The distribution is clearly unequal: Toledo hosts 34 initiatives, almost half of the total, followed by Albacete with 15 y Ciudad Real with 13; further back they are Basin (5) y Guadalajara (3).
The list has been updated with the addition of New projects in Los Yébenes, La Roda and Talavera de la Reinawhich have brought the total to 71 facilities. According to the residents' association, this growth demonstrates a "very rapid" implementation rate in just a few years since the regional plan came into effect.
In the province of ToledoThe planned network covers municipalities such as Alameda de La Sagra, Albarreal de Tajo (with a plant already in operation), Almonacid de Toledo, Carriches, Consuegra, Domingo Pérez, Fuensalida, Gálvez, Gerindote, Los Yébenes, Lucillos, Madridejos, Mascaraque, Mora, Noez (also underway), Orgaz, Polán, Quintanar de La Orden, Santa Olalla, Santo Domingo-Caudilla, Talavera de La Reina, Torrijos, Turleque, Villaluenga de La Sagra, Villaminaya and Villaseca de La Sagra.
En Albacete The expansion reaches Balsa de Ves (operational), Barrax, Caudete, Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón, HellÃn, La Roda, Minaya, and Villarrobledo. Ciudad Real The projects are located in Argamasilla de Calatrava, Campo de Criptana, Caracuel de Calatrava, Carrión de Calatrava, Llanos del Caudillo, Malagón, Manzanares, Membrilla, Socuéllamos, Torralba de Calatrava and Valdepeñas.
The provinces of Cuenca y Guadalajara They have fewer initiatives, but they are not excluded from the process. In Cuenca, Belinchón (already operational), Huelves, Iniesta, and Tarancón are included, in addition to a fifth project mentioned by the platform. In Guadalajara, Brihuega, Fuentenovilla, and Marchamalo appear. Cuenca, in particular, has five projects According to critical groups, these projects could leave a significant impact on rural areas with less capacity to absorb large industrial infrastructures.
Along with this deployment, Six projects have been shelved after particularly intense social responseThe mega-plants in Albacete city, two in Almansa, Corduente, Fuentealbilla, and Quintanar de La Orden. For neighborhood associations, these cases demonstrate the capacity for social organization when local communities feel excluded from decision-making.
Large-scale macro-plants with enormous volumes of waste
The debate is not just about how many projects are processed, but about the size of the facilities and the volume of waste they will handleThe analysis by Stop Industrial Livestock indicates that, of the 71 plants planned, 40 exceed 150.000 tons of annual capacity, 21 exceed 200.000 tons y 3 exceed 300.000 tons. The medium capacity It is located around 159.000 tons per installation. This size of the facilities and volume of waste It is precisely one of the focuses of public debate.
Taken together, and still lacking complete data for eight projects that do not yet have public information, the planned plants in Castilla-La Mancha would process more than 10,3 million tons of organic wasteThis figure represents approximately 67% of the 15,7 million tons of waste than his own Regional Biomethanization Plan 2024-2030 identifies as generated in the community.
Municipalities such as Talavera de la Reina They illustrate the level of concentration: there are plans four macroplants with a total processing capacity of approximately 935.000 tons of waste per yearwhich would involve managing more than 800.000 tons of digestate in its agricultural environment. In La Roda y Consuegra also considered three projects in each location, reinforcing the perception that certain areas may become especially saturated.
This digestateA byproduct of biomethanization, it is used as a fertilizer in agricultural soils. However, the neighborhood platform points out that nitrates present in slurry These residues remain after the process, which, if not properly managed, can become a source of soil and groundwater contamination. The concern is heightened in areas where problems already exist due to the intensive use of slurry.
In addition to the size of the facilities, critical groups are focusing on the traffic associated with the transport of millions of tons of waste, in the possible smells, noises and landscape changes and the risk that, under the label of "circular economy", a highly industrialized model will be consolidated in rural areas that compete to maintain activities such as agriculture, extensive livestock farming or tourism.
Regional Biomethanization Plan: climate objective and strong opposition
El Regional Biomethanization Plan 2024-2030 It is presented by the Board as one of the key tools for reduce greenhouse gas emissions (such as methane, nitrous oxide, or CO2 equivalent) associated with organic waste management. The plan aims to channel investments in biogas and biomethane, establish location criteria and set recommended distances from populated areas, as well as guidelines for digestate management.
However, since the start of its processing, the document has accumulated a high social rejectionIn the second public information period, which concluded last December, the following were presented thousands of allegationsCitizen platforms are talking about 15.701 claims registered, while the regional government puts the figure at 65 formal presentationsSome of them backed by up to 2.400 signatures. In any case, the participation reflects a growing concern in numerous municipalities.
Among the most forceful criticisms is the report from the General Directorate of Public Health of the Ministry of Healthwhich questions various sections of the plan and its strategic environmental assessment. This department criticizes the document Do not include detailed references to health risks linked to the presence of these plants, beyond aquifer contamination. The report mentions the need to more accurately assess the risk of gas leaks capable of causing respiratory irritations, lung problems, or other damage in the nearby population. The health impact is an aspect that has already been called into question. health and neighborhood groups.
The neighborhood platforms also point out that the strategic environmental assessment of the plan was commissioned to Biovic ConsultingA company specializing in the development of biogas plants. Stop Industrial Livestock Farming has denounced this as a possible conflict of interests, while the Board clarifies that it was a minor contract limited to the analysis of available waste in the region, without participation in the regulatory design.
Furthermore, the group criticizes the regional government. has left much of the regulation in the hands of the free marketwithout setting clear limits from the outset maximum size of the facilities, substrate transport distances, nutrient withdrawal requirements o prior accreditation of sufficient agricultural land to increase the value of the digestate. This framework, they argue, would favor prioritizing private profitability over territorial and environmental planning.
What do neighborhood and environmental groups say?
The asociación Stop Industrial Livestock Farming in Castilla-La Mancha, which brings together more than 40 neighborhood groups Spread across the five provinces, they have established themselves as one of the most critical voices against the deployment of mega-farms and biogas plants. Their diagnosis is clear: they believe that a "biogas speculative bubble" supported by European funds, with numerous projects that, in their opinion, "They are doomed to failure" due to design errors, oversizing, location or poor planning of the distribution network and the management of the digestate.
The co-spokesperson of the platform, Antonio Jorge San Vicente, has gone so far as to describe the situation as «completely disorganized, crazy and without foresight", emphasizing that they already exist 71 projects that would consume 67% of the waste generated by the region and would produce more than double the energy that the government itself had set as a target for 2030. For this group, the problem is not the technology itself, but the large-scale deployment model and the limited actual participation of the affected municipalities.
The platform emphasizes that No one disputes the need to manage waste properlybut they insist that "a private profitability in waste"which may prioritize the economic interests of certain companies over environmental health and the well-being of local residents. Among its warnings is the fear that large plants will be supplied with waste from long distances, intensifying heavy traffic and the impact on rural road infrastructure."
Another central argument is the risk of nitrate contaminationThe organization points out that the nitrate contained in the slurry remains in the digestate after biomethanization, so if this fertilizer is applied without control or in excessive quantities it can become an "environmental time bomb" similar or greater than the current problem of untreated slurry.
On the political and management level, the platform criticizes the Minister of Sustainable Development, Mercedes Gomez, its lack of specialization in biogas and biomethane He maintains that his warnings "went in one ear and out the other." He also denounces the Board for not having incorporated sufficient measures. health and public health criteria in the plan, something that coincides with the observations made by the Ministry of Health itself.
The Board's response: regulate without "promoting" new plants
In response to the criticism, the Government of Castile-La Mancha She has repeatedly defended the approach of her plan. The Minister for Sustainable Development, Mercedes Gomez, maintains that the The regional Biomethanization Plan "does not encourage the construction" of new plantsbut it establishes a framework so that companies that decide to set up there know "transparently" what the environmental, safety and waste management conditions are that they must comply with.
Gómez has insisted that the region needs existing infrastructure to handle organic wasteand has even publicly asked himself, "where would the waste go?—vinasse, manure, straw, sewage sludge— if these facilities were not available. From their perspective, the plan aims to be "guaranteeing the protection of all citizens"with monitoring mechanisms and the possibility of sanctioning or even closing plants that fail to comply with environmental authorizations.
Regarding location, the Board emphasizes that large-scale plants should be located in areas where they do not cause significant problems and where the trucks do not pass through urban areasFurthermore, the crucial role of the municipalitieswho are ultimately the ones who grant or deny the building and activity licensesThe councilor has reminded us on several occasions that «Nobody wants to have a plant nearby."But he argues that the planning seeks to minimize inconvenience and distribute the effort among different municipalities."
Regarding the supply of raw materials, the plan stipulates that waste collection will take place in a maximum radius of about 30 kilometers around each plant, which, according to the regional government, prevents the promotion of mass transport from other regions and requires that the facilities be sized according to the waste actually available in the surrounding area. The official message is that it is "to treat what we have already generated"not to import waste to feed an oversized industry.
Regarding the accusations about the awarding of the contract to Biovic ConsultingThe regional government clarifies that the contract in question was limited to carrying out a inventory and analysis of waste and that the company "never developed the plan nor participated in drafting the regulations." However, this explanation has not entirely dispelled the doubts of the neighborhood associations, which continue to demand more transparency throughout the process.
The scenario that opens up in Castilla-La Mancha with 71 projects for large-scale biogas and biomethane plants It is complex and still open: while the Board insists that the plan seeks to regulate and control a key sector for emissions reduction and waste management, a growing part of the public, neighborhood platforms and some technical and institutional departments are raising concerns about the size, concentration and the way in which these facilities are being deployed, demanding stricter regulation, greater local participation and a deeper assessment of the environmental, health and social impacts before continuing to expand the network of plants.
