Many environmental benefits have been claimed for anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities, embracing waste management and multiple energy vectors (generating electricity, heat and useable gas) that could be help create more circular economies. Whether these benefits are realised depends greatly on the sites exploited for AD plants and the social and geographical conditions. To examine this we assess the distribution of AD plants in Wales and the socio-demographic characteristics of the populations that live in close proximity. The results show that farm-fed ADs are predominantly located in rural villages and sparsely-populated settings, while waste-fed AD plants could be found more evenly distributed in both rural villages, towns and cities. In addition, populations living in proximity to AD plants tend to be older, frequently in families without children, and without any central heating (or with central heating based on oil or solid fuels), in neighbourhoods experiencing deprivation in access to services. Our results are significant for our understanding who could be, both positively and negatively, affected by the AD operation and how these facilities could contribute to the social development of communities. Factors affecting the realization of prospective benefits from farm-fed ADs include public sensitivities to development in these ‘rural idyll’ locations, and the economics of using AD to re-tool energy systems in more sparsely populated rural sites.

厌氧消化（AD）设施声称具有许多环境效益，包括废物管理和多种能源载体（发电，供热和可利用的气体），可帮助创造更多的循环经济。是否实现这些利益在很大程度上取决于用于AD植物的地点以及社会和地理条件。为了对此进行检验，我们评估了威尔士AD植物的分布以及生活在附近的人群的社会人口学特征。结果表明，农场喂养的AD主要分布在农村地区和人烟稀少的地方，而废物喂养的AD植物则分布在农村，城镇和城市中。此外，居住在AD植物附近的人口往往比较老，在缺乏服务的社区中，经常是在没有孩子，没有任何集中供热（或基于石油或固体燃料的集中供热）的家庭中。我们的结果对于我们了解谁可能受到广告经营的正面和负面影响以及这些设施如何为社区的社会发展做出贡献具有重要意义。影响由农户提供的AD实现预期收益的因素包括公众对这些“农村田园”地区发展的敏感性，以及在人口稀少的农村地区使用AD改造能源系统的经济学。我们的结果对于我们了解谁可能受到广告经营的正面和负面影响以及这些设施如何为社区的社会发展做出贡献具有重要意义。影响由农户提供的AD实现预期收益的因素包括公众对这些“农村田园”地区发展的敏感性，以及在人口稀少的农村地区使用AD改造能源系统的经济学。我们的结果对于我们了解谁可能受到广告经营的正面和负面影响以及这些设施如何为社区的社会发展做出贡献具有重要意义。影响由农户提供的AD实现预期收益的因素包括公众对这些“农村田园”地区发展的敏感性，以及在人口稀少的农村地区使用AD改造能源系统的经济学。