Murphy-Brown and Roeslein Alternative Energy To Develop $100 Million Northern Missouri Biogas Project

Murphy-Brown of Missouri, LLC (MBM) and Roeslein Alternative Energy, LLC announced today their joint plans to develop a $100 million renewable biogas project in northern Missouri. Murphy-Brown is the livestock production subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Inc.

The project is a unique and innovative model for sustainability that will demonstrate how underutilized agricultural resources can create renewable fuel, benefit the ecosystem and generate economic opportunity. The joint venture envisions combining technology and animal waste to optimize alternative energy production for regional distribution.

Biogas, also called renewable natural gas, is created when organic matter decomposes without oxygen present. Biogas will be harvested from MBM finishing farms in northern Missouri using state-of-the-art anaerobic digestion technology developed and installed by Roeslein Alternative Energy, LLC.

Roeslein has engaged investment banking firm Stern Brothers & Co. to underwrite the entire financing for this project. The Missouri Clean Energy District's PACE program is being reviewed as a financing option. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2014.

"This is an important sustainability project for Murphy-Brown of Missouri. Not only does it demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the environment and to our neighbors, but it also allows us to make facility upgrades that are good for our employees, our animals and the continuous improvement of our business in northern Missouri," said Michael Rainwater, general manager of MBM.

"This capital project is a robust investment in our northern Missouri operation, producing additional good-paying jobs and promoting economic development that is vitally important to our region," Rainwater said.

"All of us at Smithfield Foods are tremendously proud of the many people at Murphy-Brown and Roeslein Alternative Energy who have already worked very hard on this project, and we're looking forward to the day when Missouri residents will benefit from this innovative source of biogas energy," said Dennis H. Treacy, Smithfield's chief sustainability officer.

Impermeable synthetic covers will be placed on existing nutrient treatment lagoons, and barn scraper technology will be utilized to deliver raw nutrients of livestock waste to covered lagoons. Alternative fuel equipment will then harvest and commercialize biogas produced inside the lagoons. The biogas will then be utilized as a renewable, green energy resource.

"Environmental benefits from this project will be significant," explained Rudi Roeslein, president of Roeslein Alternative Energy and CEO of Roeslein & Associates, a global leader in systems integration specializing in sophisticated modular construction.

"Utilizing proven anaerobic digestion technology, we expect to achieve reduced greenhouse gas emissions, shrink MBM's carbon footprint, eliminate rainfall effects on treatment systems, all while capturing a valuable and renewable biogas energy resource," Roeslein said.

The anaerobic digestion process modules will be fabricated by Roeslein & Associates' wholly-owned subsidiary, Roeslein Manufacturing, in Red Bud, Illinois. Funding for these projects is not being provided by Smithfield Foods or MBM.

GM Announces $24 Million Landfill Gas Investment

General Motors announced recently a $24 million investment in electrical generation equipment that will allow the company to use more landfill gas at its Fort Wayne, Ind., and Orion, Mich., assembly plants.

The new equipment will generate more than 14 megawatts of electricity from landfill gas, a renewable energy source, which will help GM avoid producing more than 89,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. That’s equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 18,542 passenger vehicles. GM also will save a combined $10 million in energy costs each year at the facilities.

The investment will provide powerhouse construction at each assembly plant, as well as generation equipment and machinery.

“We have made a public commitment to increase our use of renewable energy within GM to 125 megawatts by 2020,” said Rob Threlkeld, GM global manager of renewable energy. “This expansion represents more than 10 percent of that goal.”

Orion Assembly has used landfill gas since 1999. Currently it helps heat a portion of an upgraded paint shop that uses half the energy per vehicle as the one it replaced. When the electric-generation project is completed, 54 percent of Orion’s energy will come from renewable landfill gas.

Fort Wayne Assembly has used landfill gas since 2002. The investment will increase its landfill gas use four-fold, to 40 percent. Earlier this year, Fort Wayne was named a U.S. EPA Energy Star certified facility for its prudent energy management.

“With this project in place, we are converting landfill gas into our own electricity, which, in essence, allows us to act as our own utility,” said Bill Mortimer, GM co-generation project manager. “Not only does this help us save on energy costs, but it limits the amount of greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere.”

The excess gas flare that normally escapes into the air is now redirected into the facility to create electricity energy for manufacturing.

Construction on both projects has begun, and is expected to be complete and operational by May of 2014.

Largest Dry Fermentation Anaerobic Digestion Facility in the World Opens

A grand opening event took place Friday, November 22 for the world’s largest dry fermentation anaerobic digestion facility and the first large-scale commercial facility of its kind in the United States. The facility in San José will process an estimated 90,000 tons per year of commercial organic waste that would otherwise go to landfill, instead converting it to 1.6MW of renewable energy and 32,000 tons compost.

Owned and operated by Zero Waste Energy Development Company (ZWEDC), the anaerobic digestion facility is a joint venture between GreenWaste Recovery and Zanker Road Resource Management. The companies came together to take organics recovery to the next level—composting organic material to keep it out of landfill while extracting its energy value.

“Our company started to transform the way we look at waste,” said Rich Cristina, President of ZWEDC and host of the event. Cristina told the 600+ crowd, “We saw there was no such thing as waste, no such thing as garbage. We looked at the materials collected and being composted and saw the potential for greatness.”

Another firm, Zero Waste Energy, LLC (ZWE) holds the exclusive license for the patented anaerobic digestion technology in the Americas and Asia with 20 projects in the planning and development phase throughout North and South America, as well as China and the Middle East. The facility is enclosed and ventilated and includes 16 anaerobic digesters plus four in-vessel composting tunnels. Dry fermentation anaerobic digestion is a natural biological process whereby bacteria break down organic matter in an oxygen-free environment. Decomposition occurs in several stages and converts organic matter into a combustible biogas with a high methane content.

Eric Herbert, CEO of ZWE, was on hand to explain the technology. “We’re sitting in an organic waste processing facility,” said Herbert. “We’re doing what nature does, very efficiently in a controlled way. The significance of this facility is the demonstration of this technology in the U.S. on a major commercial scale. But organic waste and its proper treatment and green energy is what this project is all about.”

The ZWEDC facility models how to reduce landfill statewide and worldwide. The high-quality compost produced will be used to enrich soils, and the renewable biogas will provide both onsite power and power for sale to local users of green energy. Development of the ZWEDC facility moves San José closer to achieving its goal of zero waste to landfill by 2022.

City of San José Mayor Reed spoke about the city’s implementation of its Green Vision, saying, “Our Green Vision has ten bold goals. One of those goals is to be a zero waste city. We already do the recycling part. What about the organics, the largest single category going into the waste stream? We knew we needed to be creative and innovative and build something like this.”

U.S. Congressman Mike Honda congratulated everyone involved with the project for helping future generations. “ The global production of organic waste is 600 billion tons per day, and here in this valley is how to address that global waste accumulating. Because of this first spot, this kind of sustainable activity can now grow in other parts of the country and other parts of the world.”

CalRecycle Director Caroll Mortensen delivered the facility’s official operating permit from the State and affirmed, “This it the type of project that Governor Brown and his administration sees as the future of California, attaining not just environmental goals but creating and sustaining jobs, renewable energy, fuel production, and diverting greenhouse gasses.”

The audience in attendance for the invite-only luncheon, presentations, and tours included elected officials from surrounding cities and counties, as well as business and industry groups representing construction, finance, nonprofits, and education.

Energy Commission Awards Over $29 Million For Biofuel and Natural Gas Technology

The California Energy Commission has approved more than $29 million for projects that advance biofuels and demonstrate California's commitment to develop cleaner transportation fuels. The seven awards total $29,675,072 and are funded through the Commission's Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (AB 118), completing the first two years of the program funding cycle.

"This is a major milestone for our program because it means we have awarded all $175 million from the first two years of the AB 118 program, plus another $14 million from the 2010-11 funding cycle," said Energy Commission Vice Chair James Boyd. "We have awarded more than 82 grants, public agency agreements and program support contracts totaling $189.4 million in AB 118 funding, leveraging more than $425 million in private match funding and creating or retaining about 5,600 jobs. "

These seven awards will infuse more than $44.5 million into the California renewable industry. Recipients estimate the awards will create or retain 616 construction, engineering and management jobs over the next three years. The proposed projects focus on reducing petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, providing jobs by advancing biofuel technology and installing alternative fuel infrastructure for fleets.

• Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District ($3,000,000 - Match Share $2,663,175)
  AC Transit will construct a new hydrogen bus fueling station in Oakland. At full demand, the station will be able to provide enough to fuel up to 12 buses, sufficient for operation of a full-day, 19-hour transit route shift. The fueling station operation will avoid 700 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, displacing 100,000 gallons of diesel gallons equivalent annually. The project is expected to create 20 temporary jobs during construction and two permanent station maintenance and operation jobs.
• Biostar Systems ($3,372,314 - Match Share $3,372,314)
  BioStar Systems is partnering with Sonoma County Water Agency and Sonoma County Transit to produce 148,000 cubic feet per day of pipeline quality biomethane from dairy waste and food processor waste to support the Sonoma County Transit natural gas fleet. This facility will reduce waste transportation costs for Sonoma County's food industry by an estimated $120,000 per year and cut greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 35,200 tons per year. The project will also generate approximately 94 jobs over the life of the project, including manufacturing and construction jobs.
• South Coast Air Quality Management District ($2,600,000 - Match share $6,000,000)
  The South Coast Air Quality Management District and their numerous partners will install and upgrade 11 compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling stations throughout Southern California. Several fleets are committed to using these stations, including shuttle service companies, taxi companies, public transit agencies, school districts, waste hauling companies, city fleets, utility fleets and goods movement trucks. It is anticipated that more than 100 green jobs will be created or sustained through this project.
• USA Waste of California ($489,040 - Match Share $1,051,021)
  USA Waste will upgrade a liquefied natural gas (LNG) station in the City of Corona (Riverside County) to add storage tanks, vaporizers and dispensers that will also add compressed natural gas (CNG) to their current LNG dispensing capabilities. LNG fuel reduces greenhouse gas emission by approximately 15 percent compared to diesel.
• CR&R, Inc.* ($4,520,501 - Match Share $18,166,460)
  CR&R estimates that this project planned for the City of Perris in Riverside County will produce 120,000 million BTUs of pipeline quality biomethane from nonrecyclable municipal waste using a two-stage anaerobic digestion process. This project would displace the equivalent of 865,000 gallons of diesel, enough to power 60 to 80 heavy duty trash recycling trucks, and reduce an estimated 57,740 tons of carbon dioxide between 2013 and 2020. The project would also create 100 construction jobs and eight permanent facility/operation jobs.
• Pixley Biogas* ($4,672,798 - Match Share $4,910,925)
  Pixley Biogas intends to build an anaerobic digestion facility in the community of Pixley (Tulare County) that will process more than 36 million gallons of manure from three nearby dairies and produce biogas to be used at the adjacent Calgren Renewable Fuels ethanol biorefinery. The carbon dioxide reductions combined with the avoided manure emissions are estimated to be more than 31,000 metric tons per year - the equivalent to removing 6,300 vehicles from the road. This project should create 23 jobs during construction and an additional two full-time permanent jobs once the facility becomes operational. The project would also help retain nearly 18 jobs at its partner business, Calgren Renewables.
• High Mountain Fuels* ($11,020,419 - Match share $11,020,419).
  High Mountain Fuels intends to convert renewable landfill biomethane to liquefied natural gas for use as transportation fuel at the Simi Valley landfill facility in Ventura County. The project would demonstrate improved gas separation technology that uses new combinations of materials to provide better power efficiency and improved methane recovery than at other facilities. The project anticipates producing almost 6 million gallons of LNG each year to fuel the company's waste hauling trucks, displacing 3.4 million gallons of diesel fuel. High Mountain Fuels estimates this project will create or retain up to 300 jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emission by more than 36,000 metric tons each year.

*The last three projects will be completed in two phases: administration/design (Phase 1) and construction/operation (Phase 2). The second phase will not begin unless the Commission approves the second phase after completing a thorough environmental analysis of the project.

U.S. Energy Company FirmGreen Creates Jobs, Turning Trash into Fuel

From Newport Beach, California, the U.S. energy company FirmGreen, Inc. (FirmGreen®) is making big waves in green technology—as the first international shipment of its proprietary biogas cleaning equipment begins this week, with more shipments to follow. Bound for the Novo Gramacho Landfill near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this USA-made equipment—and the landfill gas cleanup project it supports—is creating hundreds of jobs for American manufacturers and Brazilian workers over the next two decades. Such equipment exports are welcome news in a U.S. economy facing an ongoing trade deficit and job shortfalls hovering at some seven million, since the start of the 2007 recession.

Interestingly, the Novo Gramacho landfill where this innovative project occurs is depicted in the internationally acclaimed documentary and 2011 Academy Awards® nominee, Waste Land. In 2010, FirmGreen negotiated an agreement with Brazil’s Gás Verde, S.A., who is the project developer and the plant’s owner-operator, to turn Waste Land’s “dirty gas,” a natural by-product of trash decomposing, into clean usable gas using FirmGreen technology. The resulting “biogas” is an environmental-friendly, highly useful fuel with the energy-equivalent of natural gas.

To fabricate the specialized gas cleaning equipment required for the project, FirmGreen contracted with an established company out of Dublin, Ohio: Guild Associates. Guild employees are also helping start-up Gás Verde’s Biogas Plant. FirmGreen’s CEO, Steve Wilburn, commented, “Our world continues to face significant economic challenges, yet this project demonstrates how bi-cultural teamwork can generate hundreds of jobs, in this case throughout six U.S. states—Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, California, Michigan, and Texas—as well as Brazil. Brazilian contractors are manufacturing some of the Novo Gramacho project components and will take a lead role in the plant’s installation. Together, we are building a sustainable, renewable energy process—environmentally friendly and good for the citizens of both countries.”

In fact, Petrobras, the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, will use the biogas from the project to generate over 10% of the thermal energy needed to run its Duque de Caxias Refinery. Petrobras has an impressive record supporting clean energy technologies, and according to the U.S. Government’s EPA LMOP calculator the Novo Gramacho Biogas Plant will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.4 million metric tons, annually. The Novo Gramacho Biogas project is slated to begin commercial operations later this year.

Wilburn asserts, “FirmGreen’s business model demonstrates Americans can, and should, take global leadership roles in renewable technologies. We have the skilled labor pool and ‘can-do’ spirit that makes America great. We can replicate this process in landfills worldwide. We can help rebuild America as an exporter of green technology to the world markets.”

An internationally recognized energy executive and devoted conservationist, Wilburn has had success with similar projects developed in the United States. Most recently, FirmGreen’s Green Energy Center in Ohio won an EPA LMOP Project of the Year Award for converting landfill gas to electricity and CNG for vehicle fuel. Remarkably, FirmGreen has achieved this success without any federal, state, or government subsidies.