Energy Vision recognizes several AD installations

New York-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) Energy Vision is hosting an event Oct. 12 designed to recognize leaders in anaerobic digestion (AD) in the United States.

The 17th annual edition of the Leadership Awards features award recipients deemed “leaders whose AD projects advanced the field," Energy Vision states, adding that AD systems “capture methane, a potent greenhouse gas [GHG], by harnessing the biogas from decomposing organic wastes.”

Subsequently, the biogas can be used to generate heat and electricity or upgraded to produce renewable natural gas (RNG).

The 2023 AD systems winners selected by Energy Vision include BioTown Biogas, a partnership between Green Rock Energy Partners and BioTown Ag to expand an existing AD system on BioTown Ag’s Reynolds, Indiana, farm.

Energy Vision says the Reynolds location now hosts one of the largest on-farm digester operations in the world. The combined project processes food waste, manure and other agricultural byproducts generated in the region, producing an estimated 42 million kilowatt-hours of renewable power plus more than three million gallons of RNG fuel each year.

Another honoree, the Dickinson College Farm near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, is building what Energy Vision calls one of the smallest anaerobic digesters in the U.S., both as a hands-on learning resource for Dickinson students and a replicable model for other small farms nationwide.

The digester processes waste from the college’s dining hall, a neighboring farm’s dairy cows and other local businesses. The small AD system “eliminates farm runoff, avoids methane emissions, harnesses the biogas and generates renewable electricity to power the college farm and sell back to the grid,” Energy Vision says. The college received a grant from retailer Giant Co. and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful this summer to help fund the AD unit.

Wallingford, Pennsylvania-based EMG International LLC is the third honoree. Energy Vision describes the firm as a leading anaerobic wastewater treatment company specializing in proprietary small-footprint, high-throughput systems for the food and beverage industry.

In partnership with Pacoima, California-based American Fruits & Flavors LCC (AFF), EMG has deployed a PurEffluent system at AFF’s beverage manufacturing facility to treat its wastewater, “reducing strain on the local municipal wastewater  treatment plant, avoiding large sewer surcharges and harnessing the biogas for renewable energy,” Energy Vision says. Each year, EMG’s system can remove more than 900 tons of organic matter from the wastewater stream prior to discharge into the local sewer and will produce more than 16,000 million British thermal units (MMBTUs) of biogas.

The awards event will feature remarks from employees of the recognized companies and Energy Vision staff members.