May 26, 2011, Rutland, MA
– The first of five farm-based biogas plants that convert manure and food
scraps into electricity for hundreds of homes will be dedicated in a
ribbon-cutting ceremony May 31 at the Jordan Dairy Farm in Rutland.
May 26, 2011, Rutland, MA
– The first of five farm-based biogas plants that convert manure and food
scraps into electricity for hundreds of homes will be dedicated in a
ribbon-cutting ceremony May 31 at the Jordan Dairy Farm in Rutland.
Governor Deval Patrick
will join local farmers and other project partners to officially open the plant
that helps solve several problems for the state’s dairy industry: it will allow
farms to better manage their manure, lower their energy and operating costs,
and sell electricity to the grid to provide a new source of revenue.
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| Photo courtesy of Agreen Energy. |
Along with farm manure,
the facility’s anaerobic digester will also recycle food scraps and residue
from food manufacturers that would normally end up in landfills, and convert it
to energy and organic fertilizer. Hood, Kayem, Cabot and Cains have signed
contracts to supply food scraps to the plant, and buy renewable power from the
farm company formed to manage the venture – Agreen Energy.
This project is the
culmination of a 10-year dream by local dairy farmers and Agreen who developed
a first-in-the-nation business model. quasar energy group perfected the
made-in-U.S. technology, and New England Organics, a division of Casella Waste
Systems, will operate the facility. Coordinated state and federal energy and
permitting policies also played a major role in making the facility possible,
including the creation of the first pathway to permit smaller farms to use
digesters as a business.
