Could organic waste from local food processors and egg producers be combined with the City of Gaylord, Minnesota's wastewater stream to create an energy source? Municipal leaders asked SEH to find out. SEH completed a study that demonstrated the feasibility of constructing a joint anaerobic digester to handle the city's wastewater needs and incorporate biomass from the nearby processors to produce a marketable form of methane biogas. The study showed how biogas could be used profitably in a variety of ways, while other materials formed during methane digestion, including carbon dioxide and nutrient-rich digestate, could be used locally or marketed for resale.

Features

• Established technical feasibility of methane-rich biogas productions from local feedstocks.
• Identified opportunities for facility to refine and sell co-products of methane production.
• Suggested carbon offset credits to provide income.
• Weighed local use of semi-refined biogas versus processing to pipeline quality.

The study was funded, in part, by the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERT) public-private partnership pilot program.