Food-Waste-to-Energy Biodigester:

Rising energy costs, finite supplies of fossil fuels and concerns about energy security have increased America’s interest in renewable energy technologies. While some regions have access to wind power, abundant solar energy, hydropower or geothermal resources, all of our communities produce wastes that can be used to generate heat and electricity.

For example, food scraps and other organic wastes are typically viewed as a costly liability to communities and businesses. Organic wastes are typically landfilled, a process with significant economic and environmental costs. However, organic wastes can also be used to generate renewable energy and as a source of nutrients and soil amendments for agricultural use. In Europe, organic wastes and energy crops are used as feedstock for anaerobic digestion (AD) an environmentally friendly waste-to-energy technology. This biological process produces biogas that can be combusted to produce energy, both electricity and heat. Feedstock nutrients are not diminished by digestion and can be used as agricultural fertilizer.

With the support of U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy and funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, the Clean Energy Development Fund, and the Vermont Department of Public Service, VEC and a group of partners are working to bring this renewable energy technology to Vermont. With assistance from VEC and the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, the Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District (CVSWMD) and Vermont Technical College are completing feasibility studies that will likely lead to construction of a sophisticated anaerobic digestion facility at the college’s Randolph Center campus powered with campus dairy manure and clean food scraps collected by CVSWMD.

Our feasibility work on the CVRBF (Central Vermont Recovered Biomass Facility) suggests that a daily feedstock mixture of 10 tons of dairy manure and 15 tons of food scraps could power a 250 kWh co-gen plant capable of producing up to 2 million kWh annually and displacing 25,000 – 50,000 gallons of heating fuel each year. Further, our study suggests that number of similar facilities could be constructed across Vermont to manage organic wastes and contribute to renewable energy production. This project, the CVBRF AD facility has been granted a spot in Vermont’s electricity feed-in-tariff queue. We are now working on a request for proposals for final design, permitting and construction of the AD facility.

The Green Makeover – A Video Guide to Greening Up Your Business: Join Johnson Woolen Mills owner Stacy Manosh and special guest stars for a fun look at a real, point-by-point environmental assessment and retrofit process. Along the way, you’ll meet other business people who have installed new technologies and found some surprising ways to reduce environmental impact – all while improving their bottom line.

This 35-minute video features appearances by Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Willem Lange, and Rusty DeWees as well as original music by Jon Gailmor. It’s fun, informative, and it’s guaranteed to benefit all Vermont business owners and managers! Call VEC to order your copy.

In July and August, free copies of “The Green Makeover” were mailed to 4,500 Vermont businesses, schools, libraries, and policymakers. Tracking polls conducted by KeliherSametsVolk and Efficiency Vermont show over 280 broadcasts of Vermont television stations!

Vermont Environmental Enterprise 2007 Directory: Developed by VEC, published by the Vermont Department of Economic Development, this updated, comprehensive green enterprise directory contains contact and activity information of over 300 environmental businesses, organizations, and agencies. To order a free copy, contact VEC.

Brownfields Program Review: For the last year, VEC has coordinated a multi-stakeholder team to design improvements to Vermont’s brownfields program that will encourage more brownfields remediation and redevelopment. Group members included environmental scientists and lawyers, regional planners, and developers.

The VEC group’s white paper resulted in statute that created a formal Brownfields Program Advisory committee to consider its specific recommendation. The committee’s November, 2007 report to the legislature endorsed almost all of the VEC group’s recommendations, promising significant reform to Vermont’s brownfields program and the redevelopment of more of the state’s estimated 3,000 polluted and under-used properties.

Petroleum Cleanup Fun d Rates Survey: Vermont’s reimbursement rates to contractors cleaning up petroleum pollution were well below prevailing regional rates. VEC recommended improving rates and conducted a survey of 88 labs and C & E firms.

VEC’s recommendations to the Dept. of Environmental Conservation resulted in ~ 35% rate increases, benefiting C&E firms statewide and keeping Vermont’s C&E sector competitive.

Farm Energy Handbook: The Agency of Agriculture asked VEC to create the first-ever comprehensive guide to renewable energy options for farmers. With input from 24 experts in renewable technology and feedstocks, the book was given to 1,200 farmers, all state legislators and federal delegations, and is now available to the public.

After a Statehouse reception and extensive media coverage (AP, WCAX, etc.) the book has generated a flood of requests; the second, revised and improved edition is now being prepared for print, DVD, and Web publication.

Environmental Enterprise Database: Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund and VEC have created the first-ever statewide database of green enterprises. Each of the 1,300 entries lists activities and is word-searchable to help clients locate Vermont products/services and to foster partnerships within the environmental sector. Listings include environmental businesses, education programs, farms, public agencies, and organizations.

The data is now available through VEC and VSJF, and will be published in a GIS-based, web-accessible platform in 2008.