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Another U.S. digester makes the switch to CNG

May 26, 2014, Yakima, WA – Making electricity is not working for George DeRuyter & Sons dairy of Yakima County, Washington.

The 3,150-cow farm will begin work this summer to convert its anaerobic digester to supply a pipeline with compressed natural gas (CNG). To make the change, the farm will need $12 million to install a scrubber to clean the gas to pipeline standards, and will install a new nutrient recovery system.

Dan DeRuyter, who manages the dairy, says the farm built their digester in 2006 at a cost of $3.8 million, hoping to profit from electricity sales and minimize odor – a big concern of area residents. However, power rates soon fell to 3.5 cents per kWh (kilowatt-hour), which is half of what they expected. READ MORE