Take a Look at the Tech Behind Biogas

Climate Impact

 

News about climate change is making headlines daily, with scientists indicating that Greenland’s melting ice may be reaching a “tipping point” and could become a major contributor to sea level rise.

With newly-elected Democrats in the US Congress expected to propose some version of a “Green New Deal.” Pressure is growing to find cost-effective solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

While most people know that carbon dioxide contributes to climate change, many people don’t know that there are other greenhouse gases as well. One of them – methane – is 84 more times more potent than carbon dioxide for two decades following its release, and may be responsible for about 25% of the man-made climate change we’re experiencing.

Methane comes from industrial sources, such as oil and gas operations, but also comes up in some places you may not expect. Methane is also produced by livestock like cows and pigs when they burp, fart, and poop – meaning agriculture may be responsible for

8% of all U.S. and Canadian greenhouse gas emissions. Smithfield Foods and Dominion Energy recently partnered on an innovative way to capture some of those emissions from farms in North Carolina, Virginia, and Utah. Smithfield is the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer and recently worked with the Environmental Defense Fund on setting a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% before 2025.

Making an Impact

For the Optima KV pilot project in North Carolina, Smithfield worked with farmers to convert “swine biogas” – that is, methane from pig waste – into an environmentally-friendly fuel. On hog farms, waste is flushed out of barns into lagoons.

Bacteria then eats the pig poop in containers called “digesters”, the bioproduct of this digestion is methane. By installing special covers over those lagoons, farmers can capture that methane instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.

To help ensure that bacteria, air, and pig poop are all present in the right amount, a giant pump is used to circulate the liquid waste. The methane is then turned into pressurized natural gas that can be used to generate electricity or run diesel generators for farmers.

As Smithfield expands this type of project, Dominion Energy is entering into long-term contracts with the farmers to purchase the energy that they produce. Once the biogas is captured, it will be piped to a central processing facility for groups of hog farms. At least at first, Dominion Energy plans to deliver the renewable natural gas to local distribution systems, helping to reduce overall emissions. As the need to address greenhouse gases is only increasing, hopefully, we’ll see an expansion of this and similar efforts.

Want to get involved?

Interested in joining the fight? There are a number of open Smithfield Foods jobs that allow you a comfortable living while making our world a cleaner place for those who follow.

Author Bio:

Michael Erbe is a content writer for various companies in the South-East United States and currently works for DAGMAR Marketing in Jacksonville, FL. He has worked in the SEO field for the last two years and enjoys writing on technology advancements and digital marketing trends.