Newsworthy

Anaerobic Digestion

REW Conference attendees tour Harvest Power

Several attendees of the Renewable Energy from Waste (REW) Conference in Orlando, Florida, toured Harvest Power Central Florida Energy Garden, an innovative anaerobic digestion (AD) facility located on Disney-owned property. The facility is one of several owned and operated by Waltham, Massachusetts-based Harvest Power.

Harvest Power is managing the food waste and fats, oils and grease (FOGs) separated from Walt Disney World and other hotels, produce growers and food processors and codigesting it with the biosolids from the adjacent Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID)’s wastewater treatment plant.

RCID worked with Harvest Power to redesign its facility to produce energy from organics. The facility opened in November 2013.

Attendees toured the 3-acre facility and learned how the organic wastes are processed to run two generators producing a combined 3.2 megawatts of electricity. The facility has the capacity to process 130,000 tons of material annually.

The 2015 Renewable Energy from Waste Conference was Nov. 16-19 in Orlando, Florida.

Biofuels

USDA commits $210 million to renewable energy

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Oct. 28 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is partnering with 21 states through the Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership (BIP) to nearly double the number of fueling pumps nationwide that supply renewable fuels to U.S. motorists. In May 2015, USDA announced the availability of $100 million in grants through the BIP, and that to apply, states and private partners must match the federal funding by a 1:1 ratio. USDA received applications requesting over $130 million, outpacing the $100 million available. With the matching commitments by state and private entities, the BIP is investing a total of $210 million to strengthen the rural economy.

“This major investment in renewable energy infrastructure will give Americans more options that not only will suit their pocketbooks, but also will reduce our country’s environmental impact and bolster our rural economy,” says Vilsack. “The Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership is one more example of how federal funds can be leveraged by state and private partners to deliver better and farther-reaching outcomes for taxpayers. The volume and diverse geographic locations of partners willing to support this infrastructure demonstrate the demand across the country for lower cost, cleaner, American-made fuels.”

The 21 participating states are Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The amount awarded to each state is available at www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/energy-programs/bip/index. The final awards are estimated to expand infrastructure by nearly 5,000 pumps at over 1,400 fueling stations.

A typical gas pump delivers fuel with 10 percent ethanol, which limits the amount of renewable energy that consumers can purchase. The new partnership will increase the number of pumps, storage and related infrastructure that offer higher blends of ethanol, such as E15, E85, and even intermediate combination blends. BIP is administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency.

 

Mass burn

Pennsylvania waste agency adds transfer station

Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County Solid Waste Managaement Authority (LCSWMA) announced it has reached a major milestone in the transformation of the former Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, incinerator site, with the opening of a new 29,800-square-foot facility at the Susquehanna Resource Management Complex (SRMC) in Harrisburg. The building adds transfer, maintenance and administrative capacity to the site. Constructed to address operational efficiencies and improve customer experience, the $5 million transfer building will primarily be used for construction/demolition waste loads and smaller customer deliveries. This keeps residents and smaller hauling customers off the main tipping floor of the waste-to-energy plant and out of the way of larger garbage trucks.

Benefits, LCSWMA says, include improved traffic flow, reduced customer on-site time and increased safety for customers and staff.

 

Biofuels

Joule and Red Rock Biofuels plan merger

Liquid fuel company Joule, Bedford, Massachusetts, and Red Rock Biofuels, Fort Collins, Colorado, a developer of renewable jet and diesel fuel biorefineries, have announced their intent to merge.

The combined company will feature Red Rock’s technology pathway and Joule’s Helioculture technology. The companies say the merger will strengthen Joule’s platform for the global supply of carbon neutral fuels. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2015.

In association with this merger, after a year of service at a critical transition phase for the company, Joule also announced that, after a year of service as president and CEO, Serge Tchuruk will return to his previous board role. Brian Baynes, a current board member of both Joule and Red Rock and partner at Flagship Ventures, will succeed Tchuruk and will lead Joule as it enters a commercial deployment phase.

Red Rock Biofuels uses a Fischer-Tropsch technology to convert woody biomass residues from forests and sawmills into jet fuel and diesel products. The company says it plans to begin construction of its first refinery located in Lakeview, Oregon, in early 2016. The project is supported by a $70 million grant from the U.S. departments of agriculture and energy, and the Navy. The the company has entered into offtake agreements with Southwest Airlines and FedEx for the fuel that will be produced.

“By merging Red Rock Biofuels with Joule, we intend to accelerate the commercialization of carbon-neutral fuels and continue to build a world leading company,” says Tchuruk, outgoing president and CEO of Joule. “Joule’s proprietary platform provides a path towards carbon-neutral mobility and Red Rock Biofuels will add an immediate commercial capability to produce renewable diesel and jet fuel, complementing our unique direct pathway through direct conversion of CO₂ to drop-in fuels. I am very proud to have been part of this important transformation of Joule, which will now significantly speed up our commercialization. Red Rock’s Lakeview project will continue as planned with its current management team, beginning construction in 2016.”

As part of the merger, Joule says it also has restructured its business operations to streamline resources and focus on its two commercial pathways.

 

Plastics to oil

Vadxx joins plastics-to-fuel committee

The Plastics-to-Fuel and Petrochemistry Alliance (PFPA) of the American Chemistry Council, Washington, has announced Vadxx Energy has become its newest member. Cleveland-based Vadxx—which plans to start up its first commercial facility in Akron, Ohio, in the coming months—joins Agilyx, Cynar Plc and RES Polyflow as core technology providers.

“Vadxx is excited to join the Alliance in its work to educate policymakers, communities and others about the important benefits of these new technologies,” says Vadxx CEO Jim Garrett.

Landfill gas

Progressive Waste Solutions earns its highest carbon efficiency mark

Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd., Toronto, announced it has received its highest score (96 out of 100) in 10 years of participating in the CDP Report (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project).

The CDP is recognized for its leadership in the quality of climate change data it has submitted to the global marketplace and claims to be the world’s only global environmental disclosure system tracking how the world’s largest listed companies are acting in response to a changing climate. The CDP’s climate change program is designed to facilitate the management of greenhouse gas emissions and identify risks and opportunities.

“We are very proud of our work in reducing our carbon footprint which underscores the progressive approach we take towards creating a more sustainable future for our customers, employees and the communities we serve,” says Joseph Quarin, president and CEO of Progressive Waste Solutions. “This is an important measure to evaluate our progress towards lowering our greenhouse gas emissions which have been primarily focused on two areas—landfill gas management and the conversion of our collection fleet to natural gas.”

The company says it has increased the efficiency of its landfill gas collection systems through the adoption of industry-leading system designs and innovative technologies. The capture of landfill gases has led to the beneficial reuse of the gas as a renewable energy source, creating enough electricity to power more than 30,000 homes or offsetting the use of approximately 200,000 barrels of oil annually, according to Progressive.

In March 2015, the company opened its renewable natural gas facility, the largest of its kind in Canada and one of the largest in North America. The facility located in Terrebonne, Quebec, near Montreal, is converting landfill gas to natural gas which is then delivered to the TransCanada pipeline network, via an injection point adjacent to the landfill site. The facility is designed to process approximately 10,000 cubic feet per minute of incoming landfill gas.

According to Progressive Waste, the gas generated at the site can be considered equivalent to approximately 350,000 barrels of oil per year. The new plant will also result in the avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide over a 10-year period, the company says.

Progressive Waste launched an initiative in 2013 to replace its diesel-powered collection fleet with vehicles using natural gas. By the end of 2015, Progressive Waste says it will add 63 more CNG vehicles to service the region of Peel, Ontario.

 

 

Anaerobic digestion

St. Louis RNG facility expects mid-2016 startup

St. Louis-based Roeslein Alternative Energy (RAE) has announced that a turnkey facility to create and inject large quantities of renewable natural gas (RNG) into the national grid system, created from a large concentrations of finishing hogs in the Midwest, will be operational by mid-2016.

The announcement took place during an event at Ruckman Farm in Albany, Missouri, one of the nine Smithfield Foods Missouri hog production facilities involved in the livestock manure-to-energy project.

“The technology we have developed is ready to be deployed commercially in a project that makes both economic sense and environmental sense,” says Rudi Roeslein, founder and president of Roeslein Alternative Energy.

“This project will show how farmers can do more than produce food. We can make energy, we can reduce waste, and we can be good stewards for our most important resources—land and water,” says Blake Boxley, director of environmental health and safety, Smithfield Hog Production.

Construction on the $120 million project began in 2014 and continues on schedule, RAE says.

Phase I, which is nearly 50 percent complete, according to RAE, involves installation of impermeable covers and flare systems on the 88 existing manure lagoons at Smithfield Foods hog finishing farms in Northern Missouri. The covers are designed to reduce greenhouse gases by preventing methane from escaping to the atmosphere, keeping rainfall from entering the lagoons and reducing odor.

Phase II involves fabricating and installing technology to purify the biogas captured by the impermeable covers and developing an interconnection to a natural gas pipeline operated by Houston-based ANR Pipeline Company, which transverses Ruckman Farm. RNG is projected to enter the pipeline in the summer of 2016, RAE says.

Duke Energy in North Carolina has agreed to purchase a portion of the RNG to help meet clean energy requirements for power generation.

RAE says that when the project is completed, the hog manure from the project will produce approximately 2.2 billion cubic feet of pipeline quality RNG, or the equivalent of 17 million gallons of diesel fuel annually. In addition, approximately 850,000 tons of CO2-equivalent methane will be prevented from reaching the atmosphere.

According to the company, the project is providing $120 million in new work for Missouri supply chain, manufacturing and construction companies and their employees.

“Since the partnership with Roeslein, we’ve been able to restock some farms that had been idle. With their help and their technology, we have since created more than 100 jobs for our grow-finish hog operation in Missouri,” Boxley says.

RAE also reports it intends to supplement the hog manure feedstock with biomass harvested from restored prairie grasslands.

 

Biofuels

DuPont opens cellulosic biofuel facility in Iowa

Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont celebrated the opening of its cellulosic biofuel facility in Nevada, Iowa, with a ceremony including Iowa Governor Terry Brandstad and other dignitaries on Oct. 30.

DuPont says the biorefinery is the world’s largest cellulosic ethanol plant, with the capacity to produce 30 million gallons per year of fuel, offering a 90 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared with gasoline.

The raw material used to produce the ethanol is corn stover—the stalks, leaves and cobs left in a field after harvest. According to DuPont, the facility will demonstrate at commercial scale that nonfood feedstocks from agriculture can be the renewable raw material to power future energy demands. The company also says that cellulosic ethanol will further diversify the transportation fuel mix.

The biorefinery receives its feedstock from some 500 local farmers, who DuPont says will provide 375,000 tons of stover per year from within a 30-mile radius. In addition to providing a new revenue stream for these growers, the plant will create 85 full-time jobs and more than 150 seasonal local jobs in Iowa, DuPont says.

“Iowa has a rich history of innovation in agriculture,” Branstad said. “Today we celebrate the next chapter in that story, using agricultural residue as a feedstock for fuel, which brings both tremendous environmental benefits to society and economic benefits to the state. The opening of DuPont’s biorefinery represents a great example of the innovation that is possible when rural communities, their government and private industry work together toward a common goal.”

DuPont says that as a global company with operations in more than 90 countries, it is uniquely positioned to deploy its cellulosic technology for a global rollout.

“Today, we fulfill our promise to the global biofuels industry with the dedication of our Iowa facility,” said William Feehery, president of DuPont Industrial Biosciences. “And perhaps more significantly, we fulfill our promise to society to bring scientific innovation to the market that positively impacts people’s lives. Cellulosic biofuel is joining ranks with wind and solar as true alternatives to fossil fuels.”

DuPont says most of the fuel produced at the Nevada, Iowa, facility will be transported to California to fulfill the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, a policy to reduce carbon intensity in transportation fuels. The plant also will serve as a commercial-scale demonstration facility.

DuPont’s Industrial Biosciences division and Quad County Corn Processors (QCCP), Galva, Iowa, also have announced a new multiyear contract to supply the enzymes that enable QCCP’s Cellerate process in the production of cellulosic biofuel from corn kernel fiber.

Cellulosic ethanol is produced from the inedible parts of plants and is used in low-greenhouse-gas transportation fuels. In 2014, QCCP says it produced the nation’s first cellulosic ethanol gallons and the world’s first gallons from corn kernel fiber with its process, which is powered by DuPont’s enzyme technology.

Anaerobic Digestion

Greenlane Biogas secures contract with CR&R for RNG pipeline

Greenlane Biogas, Burnaby, British Columbia, has received a contract to provide engineering services to CR&R Waste & Recycling for its biogas to renewable natural gas (RNG) project in Perris, California. Under the terms of the agreement, Greenlane’s scope of work will involve detailing a design solution to enable the RNG produced at the facility to meet the stringent Rule 30 requirements for injection into California pipelines.

Rule 30 is a guideline created by the state utilities specifying the pipeline gas quality RNG producers must meet in order for RNG to be received and distributed. One standard in Rule 30 that has inhibited producers from injecting their RNG into pipelines is the requirement for the RNG to have a heating value of 990 British thermal units per square cubic foot (Btu/scf).

To meet the 990 Btu/scf criteria, a higher heating value fuel, such as propane, would normally need to be blended into the RNG. This practice reduces the “green” content of the RNG and it may be cost-prohibitive. Lower heating value requirements for RNG, most commonly 960 Btu/scf, have been adopted in other states.

“We are confident that we have the right team to get our biogas compliant to California pipeline standards,” says Mike Silva, CR&R project manager. “We will be the first in California to produce and supply pipeline quality RNG from organics recycling. California has a statewide goal of 75 percent recycling, composting or source reduction of solid waste by 2020, and organics recycling is a major component of this mandate.”

 

Biofuels

SG Preston and IHI E&C enter EPC agreement for multiple renewable fuel plants

SG Preston, a Philadelphia-based bioenergy company, and IHI E&C, a Houston-based engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) subsidiary of IHI Corp., have announced an agreement for a multifacility program that will include the development and construction of a series of commercial-volume, advanced biofuels manufacturing plants, initially in the U.S. Midwest and Canada.

The companies say the plants will use proven, commercial-scale technologies for the production of renewable diesel and jet fuel targeting U.S. and global industries seeking a volume-based, competitively priced solution to their environmental sustainability mandates.

“IHI E&C is a perfect fit for our U.S. and global strategic vision,” says R. Delbert LeTang, SG Preston president and CEO. “The need to drive thought-leadership and momentum toward tangible solutions in the U.S. alternative energy market has become a strategic imperative that we intend to lead in alliance with global blue chip partners in engineering and construction, technology and manufacturing.”

IHI E&C will serve as turnkey EPC to SG Preston’s biofuels initiative, delivering “lump sum,” fixed-price engineering and construction.

“We have maintained our commitment to focused execution of our volume-based advanced biofuels plan,” LeTang says. “We are extremely pleased to launch this industry-changing initiative in coordination with IHI E&C as a part of our integrated system of global, blue chip partners to rapidly take strategy and concept into design, engineering and execution at commercial scale.”

“IHI E&C is tremendously excited to apply our program management expertise to this ground-breaking set of renewable fuels projects,” says IHI E&C President Glyn Rodgers. “We’re pleased to support SG Preston in pursuit of their far-reaching vision, extending engineering, procurement and construction services from our Houston base of operations.”

SG Preston will deploy its biofuels strategy initially at five plants (South Point and Van Wert Ohio, Logansport, Indiana, and two to-be-announced sites, one in Michigan, and one in Ontario, Canada), each with an initial capacity to produce 120 million gallons of renewable diesel and jet fuel annually.

 

 

Anaerobic digestion

DC Water unveils renewable energy project

Washington-based DC Water has unveiled a $470 million waste-to-energy project that is expected to produce a net 10 megawatts of electricity from the wastewater treatment process and provide renewable energy to power about one-third of the Blue Plains plant’s energy needs.

The facilities include a dewatering building, 32 thermal hydrolysis vessels, four concrete 80-foot high anaerobic digesters that hold 3.8 million gallons of solids each and three turbines. DC Water says the process uses high heat and pressure to process the solids left at the end of the wastewater treatment process.

 

Landfill gas

Fortistar expands landfill-gas-to-energy portfolio

White Plains, New York-based Fortistar has announced the acquisition of two landfill-gas-to-energy (LFG-to-energy) projects, expanding its LFG portfolio by 11 megawatts. The two projects were purchased from Green Gas Americas, Palm City, Florida. The company also closed on $150 million in financing in October to continue building its LFG-to-energy portfolio.

“Fortistar has developed, invested in and manages an unparalleled portfolio of successful landfill gas-to-energy initiatives in the U.S. and Canada,” says Mark Comora, the company’s president. “Our experienced team and ability to forge strong relationships with partners and local communities has been the formula for this success.”

The two new projects are both operational. The 8 MW Pioneer Energy project in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, sells power to Constellation Energy, while the 3 MW Port Charlotte Energy project in Punta Gorda, Florida, sells power to Orlando Utilities Commission. Fortistar will own and operate both projects.

The $150 million in financing was led by Fortistar’s existing LFG lenders, MUFG Union Bank, Investec and CoBank. The group has been expanded to include East West Bank and Raymond James Bank.

Association activities

American Biogas Council elects eight directors

The American Biogas Council (ABC) membership has elected eight directors to its board, including five re-elected directors and three new directors. The newly elected and re-elected directors are:

• Tony Callendrello, CEO of NEO Energy (new);
• Bill Jorgenson, managing partner at Vanguard Renewables (new);
• Craig Frear, director of research and technology at Regenis (new);
• Christine McKiernan, vice president of engineering at BIOFerm Energy Systems
• Wayne Davis, vice president of Harvest Power Inc.;
• Amy McCrae Kessler, executive vice president and head of environmental and regulatory affairs at Turning Earth LLC;
• Norma McDonald, North American sales manager at Organic Waste Systems; and
• Bernie Sheff, vice president of engineering at ES Engineering Services LLC.

Continuing ABC Board Chair, Bernie Sheff, says the diversity of this board ensures that the ABC “will continue to support biogas companies and grow biogas project deployment.”

The new directors will join existing directors Paul Greene, vice president, Natural Systems Utilities LLC; Mike Land, director of Baker Tilly; Lisa McFadden, senior program manager at Water Environment Federation; Paul Owen, senior international account manager at Caterpillar Financial Services Corp.; Paul Relis, senior vice president at CR&R Inc.; and Susan Robinson, policy manager at Waste Management Inc.

 

Anaerobic digestion

Milwaukee grocer transforms food waste into energy

Milwaukee-based Sendik’s Food Markets reports it is recycling food waste into energy by installing InSinkErator’s Grind2Energy system in all 12 of its metro area stores. The system diverts and grinds food waste and stores it in tanks on the property. The waste is then trucked to an anaerobic digester facility where it is converted into biogas and fertilizer, Sendik’s reports.

The waste that is ground by the Grind2Energy system at Sendik’s stores is processed at the Forest County Potawatomi digester in Forest County, Wisconsin, that was built two years ago. The biogas produced there is sold to Milwaukee-based We Energies, which distributes power into the region’s power grid.

The company says the annual impact of using Grind2Energy at all 12 Sendik’s stores is equivalent to eliminating 4.7 million car miles worth of greenhouse gas emissions. The food scraps will create enough natural gas annually to heat 1,500 homes for one month and generate more than 407,000 pounds of fertilizer.

Nick Balistreri, Sendik’s co-owner, observes, “Our family lives in this community and we’re committed to making Milwaukee a better place for our neighbors.” He notes that while Sendik’s stores have been composting their food waste for more than three years, the Grind2Energy program will allow the company to do even more to reduce its environmental impact. He refers to Sendik’s Mequon store where the pilot was launched last November, and where the need for eight trash compactor trucks per month was reduced to one.

 

Fuels and chemicals

MagneGas installs second production facility

MagneGas Corp., a Tampa-based technology company with a patented process that converts liquid waste into MagneGas2 fuel, has announced that because of growing demand for MagneGas2 fuel that has created a substantial backlog, a second production facility has been added. The second production unit is expected to fulfill the increased demand, and the company says it plans to have a third unit in operation in early 2016 to handle the continued expected high demand for its MagneGas2 industrial fuel.

The company attributes the additional demand to its sales penetration into key vertical market segments, including utilities, demolition companies, first-responder markets as well as government and military sectors. The company has also aggressively worked to expand its distribution network and in-house sales and marketing programs.

MagneGas2 has received positive feedback from end users for its advantages over acetylene. According to MagneGas, industries ranging from demolition companies, utility companies, first responders and fabricators have acknowledged its faster cutting speed, demonstrated safety attributes, eco-friendly aspects, smaller heat affected zone and lower cost. In addition, MagneGas2 is produced in the United States, versus acetylene which is made from calcium carbide imported primarily from China and other countries, the company says.

“We continue to be very pleased with the positive feedback received from customers and distributors regarding MagneGas2,” says Ermanno Santilli, CEO, MagneGas. “The product is a faster cutting fuel, which offers our customers numerous other savings.”

 

 

Anaerobic Digestion

UK food manufacturer announces potato-powered factory

2 Sisters Food Group, one of the U.K.’s largest food manufacturers, is now operating a potato-powered energy plant as a first step in a new sustainability plan which aims to generate 35,000 metric tons of carbon savings a year and slash the group’s carbon footprint by 20 percent by 2018.

The new biorefinery at 2 Sisters’ Cavaghan and Gray chilled food factory in Carlisle, U.K., is the first waste-powered plant of its kind in the world to be used in food manufacturing, according to the company. It uses four patented anaerobic digestion processes which are linked to extract gas. When fully operational it will produce 3,500 megawatt hours (MWh) per year of electricity, equivalent to the average annual electricity use of around 850 U.K. homes, and generate around 5,000 MWh per year in steam.

The energy and steam will be used to help power the Carlisle factory and slash its carbon footprint. This will be the first step of the company’s energy transformation project, which will see biorefineries developed at up to ten 2 Sisters factories over the coming three years. Following these initial installations, the energy-from-waste plants could be installed at all 43 factories owned by the 2 Sisters Food Group.

The four-story-high biorefinery at Carlisle will be powered using potato waste from the plant’s mashed potato and pie manufacturing lines. Diverting this waste to power production will help 2 Sisters meet its goal of ensuring zero-waste to landfill by 2017. The residual waste left after the biorefining process has been completed can also be reused as fertiliser, completing a circular journey that could take it back to one of 2 Sisters’ 700 farms and away from landfill, the company says.

The biorefineries are part of an ambitious three-year sustainability plan, Feeding Our Future, that 2 Sisters has launched to ensure it cuts its carbon footprint by 20 percent by 2018.

When all the biorefineries are installed, the group expects to achieve 35,000 metric tons of carbon savings a year.

The biorefineries are being operated by renewable energy expert H2 Energy in partnership with 2 Sisters Food Group.

Andrew Edlin, group sustainability director for 2 Sisters Food Group says, “As one of the U.K.’s largest food manufacturers, the 2 Sisters Food Group has a responsibility for protecting the environment and ensuring we take a leadership role as a responsible corporate citizen. The launch of the Feeding Our Future sustainability plan sets out clear goals for achieving this.

“The biorefinery is a world-first for the food industry, using a new type of super-efficient technology to generate energy from potato waste. We are looking to use this system to open up to 10 further energy plants at other 2 Sisters factories over the coming three years, using potato and other food waste to generate energy and steam.”

 

Association Activities

American Biogas Council announces 2015 Biogas Industry Award winners

The American Biogas Council (ABC), Washington, recognized 12 organizations for their leadership and innovation, which are helping to strengthen and grow the U.S. biogas industry during its annual conference in Boston. The award recipients were honored during the 2015 Biogas Industry Awards Reception held during BioCycle REFOR15 Conference and Expo. This year, the ABC recognized biogas industry leadership and innovation with three awards: Innovation of the Year, Project of the Year and the new Outside-the-Box award.

“The Biogas Industry Awards not only recognize excellent projects and innovations,” said Bernie Sheff, chairman of the ABC board and vice president of engineering, ES Engineering Services. “They recognize great industry achievements and creative solutions.”

The ABC’s Biogas Projects of the Year were:

• The Furrer and Martin Families’ Green Cow Power in Goshen, Indiana;
• quasar energy group’s Wooster Renewable Energy in Wooster, Ohio;
• The city of Gresham’s Cogen Expansion and FOG Receiving Station project in Gresham, Oregon;
• Minnesota Municipal Power Agency’s project Hometown BioEnergy in Le Sueur, Minnesota;
• University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Foundation’s Rosendale Biodigester project in Pickett, Wisconsin;
• CleanWorld’s UC Davis Renewable Energy Anaerobic Digester (READ) in Davis, California;
• Forest County Potawatomi Community’s Renewable Generation Biogas Facility in Milwaukee; and
• South San Francisco Scavenger Co.’s Blue Line Biogenic CNG Facility in San Francisco.

 

Anaerobic digestion

California Department of Food and Agriculture awards AD grants

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has selected five projects to receive approximately $11.1 million in grants to implement digester technology on California dairy operations that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from dairy manure.

Financial assistance for the installation of dairy digesters comes from the state’s cap-and-trade program for combating climate change. Through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, CDFA and other state agencies are investing cap-and-trade auction proceeds in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while providing a variety of additional benefits to California communities.

Recipients of the CDFA grants will provide an estimated $18.9 million in matching funds for the development of the digester facilities.

“These projects demonstrate a commitment by California to support efforts by dairy farmers to fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gases from the agriculture sector,” says CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “This is definitely a win-win for agriculture: cutting methane emissions and improving the environment while also generating revenue from renewable bioenergy.”

Dairy manure produces methane when it decomposes. Dairy digesters collect manure in tanks or lagoons for decomposition in an oxygen-free environment and then capture the methane, which can be used as a biofuel to power generators or to fuel natural gas vehicles.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, trapping more than 80 times as much heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide over a short-term (20-year) period. These dairy digester projects support California’s efforts to reduce methane and other short-lived climate pollutants, helping meet the state’s goal of reducing greenhouse gases to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

CDFA conducted a multistage review of all applications, including administrative, financial and technical reviews, to verify applicants’ GHG reduction calculations and assess the feasibility of digester technologies. Final scoring and review was conducted by the multiagency Dairy Digester Research and Development Program’s Technical Advisory Committee, a subset of the California Federal Dairy Digester Working Group.

The projects also fulfill the requirements of California Senate Bill 535 specifying that at least 25 percent of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants benefit disadvantaged communities, as identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency.