Cedar Grove unveils waste digester plans

Cedar Grove Composting announced that it is working with BioFerm Energy Systems, a German-based clean energy generation company owned by The Viessmann Group, to integrate anaerobic digestion into its composting process. The proposed technology employs a high solids anaerobic digester that produces a usable biogas by enhancing natural processes to convert food scraps and yard clippings into a viable fuel. That biogas can then be used as either natural gas for auto and truck fuel or to produce electricity. Cedar Grove is in the engineering and design phase of this project.

Steve Banchero, Cedar Grove Composting CEO, said, “Cedar Grove is moving into the next realm of its development – the creation of green energy from food scraps that were once destined for a land fill.”

The project is one of the first and largest of its kind in the United States. The digester will produce biogas by converting once wasted food and yard scraps into digestate that can then be combusted to produce electricity and heat, or be scrubbed to natural gas quality. These can be used as a renewable alternative to compressed natural gas applications, such as transportation fuel. Once operational, the digester will produce energy equivalent to the electricity usage of 400 homes or the fuel for 1,100 passenger vehicles per year.

“Like all of our sustainable business models, we need a healthy aftermarket for the products and by-products we produce in order for our programs to be viable,” continued Banchero.