February 13,2015
A project that is the first California digester to use agricultural waste to create renewable natural gas to power another renewable energy facility was dedicated during the Farm Show this week. The project -Pixley Biogas- was controversial to some utilizing 1.4 million gallons of dairy waste to power a Pixley ethanol plant.
Lyle Schlyer, President of Calgren Renewable Fuels says “I am proud of the contribution that Calgren can make to this incredibly green, low-carbon intensity project. Digesters are often talked about, but actually building one and getting it into operation doesn’t happen all that often. This is a marriage of industrial and dairy interests.”
The California Energy Commission recently issued rules that could send the number of digester projects around the state skyrocketing, says one of the companies involved in the venture. Regenis vice president Bryan VanLoo said “Our mission is to reimagine reusable resources. In the case of California, that potential is almost limitless. Utilizing digesters would not only create hundreds of new construction and operation jobs in rural communities like Tulare County, but there is enough organic waste to power 2 to 3 million homes or to generate 2.5 billion gallons of clean, ultra-low carbon transportation fuels.”
