Tech

These companies want to treat food waste with bacteria

“We need to deal with this waste somehow.”

Meltem Urgun Demirtas

However, for companies interested in anaerobic digestion, methane production is the goal. Because these facilities are sealed, a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced by bacteria, known as biogas, can be captured and purified into biomethane, which can be used as an alternative to natural gas.

Some manufacturers use this biomethane (also called renewable natural gas) or unrefined biogas on site, burning it to power their facilities. Others sell it to utilities, so it is pumped into existing natural gas pipelines and used to generate electricity in power plants or used in homes for heating or cook.

Overall, anaerobic digestion can provide climate benefits, but exactly how much emissions it reduces will depend a lot on the details, he said. Troy Hawkinsa researcher at the Argonne National Laboratory who studies the environmental effects of energy systems.

Food waste boxes in the Divert facility in Freetown, MA

GEBO WATCH/CONVERTER

Divert works with more than 5,000 retailers across the United States to collect food waste and treat it with anaerobic digestion. The company currently operates 10 digestive sites in the United States and uses tracking systems to help understand why certain foods go to waste in the first place, Begin adds.

Deploying anaerobic digesters doesn’t come cheap: a full-size facility can cost tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. Designing new facilities can also take time, because most are customized for specific processing tasks. An ice cream factory’s on-site facility can look different from one that can accept everything from grocery store waste like expired pizza and frozen apples to cooking oil, says McKiernan. used from restaurants.

According to a report, more than 11,000 additional sites in the United States are ready to deploy anaerobic digesters, from wastewater facilities to food waste sites. 2014 report from US federal agencies. If all of those facilities were built, they could generate enough energy to power 3 million homes. The American Biogas CouncilAn industry trade group, which puts the number at 15,000 sites, will require about $45 billion to build completely.

It won’t be cheap and won’t be fast, but anaerobic digesters could be a significant destination for food waste in the future, helping to turn the leftovers on one person’s table into another’s energy.



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