Member press release – Best in the Business: Biogas Industry Awards Finalists Announced
Please join us in congratulating the finalists for this year’s Biogas Industry Awards!
The winners will be announced and honored at BIOGAS AMERICAS at a now sold-out dinner, May 25th in Las Vegas. Each finalist offers a unique example of how innovative biogas systems and technologies can be, providing local solutions to our waste needs that are environmentally responsible, efficient, and forward looking.
Biogas Project of the Year Finalists
ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston/RDO Frozen Foods (Park Rapids, MN) — In 1994, Charles Stack & Associates Inc. designed a covered and mixed anaerobic lagoon for processing the waste from Lamb Weston/RDO Frozen Foods which produces 2 million gallons per day of wastewater from turning raw potatoes into consumer products such as frozen fried potatoes. The biogas system recycles this wastewater into renewable heat, replacing the food processor’s need for boiler fuel, and liquid fertilizer for Lamb Weston Food’s crop land, replacing chemical fertilizers. With 28 years of continuous operation, the project was awarded the 2011 ConAgra Sustainability Council Award in the Climate Change & Energy Efficiency category.
CalBio Bloom Dairy Biogas Fuel Cell (Fresno, CA) — In late 2021 California Bioenergy and Bloom Energy brought on-line a full scale 1MW ultra-clean (CARB certified clean) and ultra-efficient (60+%) dairy biogas direct to fuel cell powerplant located on the Bar 20 Dairy near Fresno, CA. This biogas system silently and electrochemically (without combustion) produces 1MW of continuous base load power 365 days/year 24 hours/day without any system downtime. The project’s output and on-site microgrid powers the dairy as well as a portion of BMW’s California electric vehicle fleet. Recently, the biogas powered fuel cell received the California Air Resources Board’s clean certification such that it does not require emission permitting in one of the nation’s most stringent air basins like all the other combustion based generators do. This is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and has proven the commercial feasibility of the next generation of renewable base load and dispatchable electricity.
Synergy Biogas (Covington, NY) — Synergy Biogas is a commercial scale on-farm, mixed waste digester by CH4 Biogas constructed in 2011 and continuously operating continuously since then. It was the first digester in NY to connect to sell wholesale power and is the largest, on-farm energy producing digester in the State. The facility digests manure from ~2,000 milking cows at Synergy Dairy plus food waste. Biogas from the digester fuels a 1.4 MW genset to produce renewable electricity and heat. The facility reduces greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 10,000 tons/year of CO2, produces 16,000 yd3 of bedding, and reduces manure odors. In addition, this project launched a microalgae study to reduce an environmental concern, solve a disposal problem and lead to an alternative feedstock for fuel.
Fremont Regional Digester (Fremont, MI) — The Fremont Regional Digester recycles 150,000 tons/yr of consumer, agriculture, and food waste into 19 GWh/yr of electricity and millions of gallons of digestate stored in covered lagoons to replace chemical fertilizers and control odor. The facility also has the capability to process packaged food waste, separating and recycling the non-organic materials, such as cardboard, paper and metals. The biogas produced from anaerobic digestion is converted into electricity, supplying up to 2,500 Western Michigan homes through a long term PPA with the local utility, Consumers Energy. The two CHP units present at the site have an electrical capacity of 2.85MW, which is contributing to the sustainable energy and climate goals set by the state of Michigan. The Fremont Regional Digester is one of the largest food waste digestion facilities in the US, and likely the largest Merchant food waste digestion facility in the US, employing 17 local residents full time, and serving more than 50 unique customers every month, including several well-known multi-nationals in the food industry.
Rialto Bioenergy Facility (Rialto, CA) — Rialto Bioenergy Facility (RBF) is the largest landfill-diverted organics to renewable natural gas facility in North America, playing a critical role in cutting methane emissions from landfills and achieving California’s carbon neutrality goal. RBF converts up to 300,000 tons per year of landfill-diverted organic waste and biosolids from municipal wastewater treatment facilities into fertilizer and up to 985,000 MMBTU per year of carbon-negative RNG. Organic waste is polished using Anaergia’s Organics Polishing System and digested in two 3.5MG digesters. The digestate will be converted into high value biochar fertilizer.
Biogas Innovation of the Year Finalists
NanoGateTM Biogas Upgrading PSA from Guild Associates, Inc. — Nanogate is a single-skid solution for small digester biogas upgrading that is inexpensive to own and operate, with minimal day-to-day interaction at the site. Nanogate is sized at a feed flow of 50 SCFM and will efficiently turn down to 15 SCFM. This size is sufficient for applications such as a 500-cow dairy, small to midsize wastewater treatment plants, or an organics diversion digester. Industrial applications, such as food processing facilities, will also benefit as this waste tends to have high methane gas production for their digester size. With Nanogate and its sister Microgate (100 SCFM), the number of sites that can now participate in RNG markets can grow exponentially.
BSR-050® Hydrogen Sulfide Removal Media from Guild Associates, Inc. — BSR-050® from Guild Associates is a high-capacity granular media for the removal of hydrogen sulfide from landfill gas. Engineered for direct replacement of Iron Sponge and Activated Carbon in systems with lead-lag vessel configuration, BSR-050 is field-proven to treat landfill gas for power generation or Renewable Natural Gas (RNG). The specific innovation of BSR-050 is (1) the advanced chemistry for the reactive scavenging of the hydrogen sulfide, and (2) the unique pore structure that enables this reaction to occur both on the surface of the pellet and the entire volume of the pellet.
BGX Biostream by Xebec — Biostream represents the only fully containerized Pressure Swing Adsorption gas upgrading system in the U.S. At the current time, Xebec has four systems running in the U.S., and is building and will deliver at least eighteen more in the first half of 2022 to digesters in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and Idaho. The system is factory built in either Xebec’s Blainville, QC plant or their Henderson, CO plant, Factory Tested, and “plug and play”, in just a few days these systems can be installed, commissioned, and can generate revenue for the digester owners. They can be deployed in multiple parallel configurations to handle larger digesters. In addition, Xebec has and is continuing to develop a large factory trained technical service team that has approximately 80 technicians dispatched out of 14 locations in the U.S. and Canada. Service contracts are available to handle preventative maintenance, operations, and spare parts.
Biogas Visionary Finalists
Rudi Roeslein, CEO, Roeslein Alternative Energy — From his nomination: “His vision changed an entire industry and now major companies are investing hundreds of millions to cover swine manure lagoons all over the country. He’s also a brilliant engineer, businessman, philanthropist, grandfather and a pillar in the community.”
Marianne Mintz, Principal Energy Analyst, Argonne National Laboratory — From her nomination: “Marianne Mintz…is a subject matter expert on renewable natural gas (RNG) for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office’s Technology Integration (TI) program and its network of Clean Cities. She is the lead analyst for DOE’s TI in this area. With her vision and deep analysis, she has developed several unbiased and easy to use resources for decision-makers, industry, and Clean Cities coordinators, who interact routinely with fleet managers, and in some cases with the operators and developers of RNG facilities. Once a month, she convenes a working group of Clean Cities coordinators interested in the subject. She discusses the latest information in the industry, invites industry and practioners to speak, develops presentations and other communication materials for coordinators and stakeholders, and facilitates an engaging discussion with the participants. Her technical analysis on RNG allows DOE, Clean Cities coordinators and decisionmakers to understand the emission benefits and practical solutions available today that RNG offers in decarbonizing the medium- and heavy-duty transport sector.”
Gus Simmons, Director of Bioenergy, Cavanaugh Solutions — From his nomination: “Gus is a passionate advocate for the development of our planet’s bioenergy resources, particularly the utilization of organic wastes as feedstock for the development of biogas from anaerobic digester. Gus’s efforts to promote and place into operation systems that harvest the carbon from organic wastes and use it to displace our dependency on fossil fuels are a prime example of Cavanaugh’s commitment to cultivating the stewardship of our natural resources through innovation. Gus led some of the earliest efforts to implement ways for smaller farms to participate in the biogas industry, serving as the Principal and lead designer for small farm digester systems and biogas aggregation to centralized gas upgrading. Some of this pioneering conceptualization of small farm systems has resulted in broad-scale efforts to implement on-farm swine manure digesters in his home state of North Carolina….In addition to advancing specific project designs, Gus serves the biogas industry through providing numerous Independent Engineering Reviews for lenders and investors participating in biogas projects, helping them gain confidence in their investments and working with project developers to advance their project initiatives.”
George Bevington, Senior Project Manager, Barton & Loguidice — From his nomination: “His 40 years of industry experience includes the management and operation of a 13.1 MGD wastewater treatment facility, ELAP laboratory and Industrial Pretreatment/Monitoring program where he transformed an underutilized municipal wastewater treatment plant into a true Water Resource Recovery Facility. While in this role, George developed a detailed strategy to eliminate the purchase of natural gas and electricity, resulting in a “Green” facility using biogas to generate the required electricity on site and putting excess energy back to the grid – a leader in the “Utility of the Future” concept. Having this vision and putting it into place over 20 years ago, makes George a true “visionary” in the industry.”
Thanks to our industry’s tremendous interest in recognizing our collective achievements and the opportunity to network with so many of our peers and business partners, the 9th Biogas Industry Awards Dinner is officially SOLD OUT and we are so excited to award this year’s winners with a packed house. In addition, please seek out our finalists any time you like at BIOGAS AMERICAS. You can connect with all attendees using the BIOGAS AMERICAS app.
And of course, if you’re not registered for BIOGAS AMERICAS, please sign up to join now.
We’ll see you in three weeks! Register here. We can’t wait to see you in Las Vegas!
