Food & Farm Waste Biogas Plant at Vermont Technical College

Ground has been broken on a new food and farm waste to biogas anaerobic digestion facility on the Randolph Campus of Vermont Technical College (VTC). VTC explained that the facility will be constructed near the campus' central heating plant, where it affords ease of operation in transferring power to Vermont’s electricity grid as well for delivering heat to the campus, and is also co-located with the farm fields on the main campus. The college said that the Central Vermont Recovered Biomass Facility will serve as an educational facility and model for other facilities as the reduced dependence on non-renewable energy sources is a benefit consistent with the state’s energy plan. According to VTC at least 51% of the feedstock will come from a combination of farm manure and crops. The rest will be a mix of food processing waste and/or scraps. “This facility will become a focus for education in renewable energy, waste management, sustainable agriculture, and contribute to the health of our soils here in Vermont and the region,” commented Dr. Philip Conroy, president of Vermont Technical College. “It will be a source of knowledge for researchers, lawmakers, policy-makers, the resource management industry, and so many more here in Vermont and throughout New England,” he continued. The college said that the project is a part of its larger goal of campus-wide sustainability and a resource for providing a cutting-edge applied education. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Vermont governor Peter Shumlin and Vermont secretary of agriculture Chuck Ross, among other dignitaries. Read More 60,000 TPA Anaerobic Digestion Biogas Plant Approved in Yorkshire Planning permission has been granted for Peel Environmental's combined heat and power biogas plant, which will use anaerobic digestion to process 60,000 tonne per year of food waste in Wheldrake, Yorkshire. 410,000 TPA MBT Plant to Produce RDF in Sofia, Bulgaria A Greek consortium has won a contract to build a 410,000 tonne per year mechanical biological treatment facility which will produce RDF in Sofia, Bulgaria. Model Template for Food Waste Composting Plant Permitting The U.S. Composting Council has published its Model Compost Rule Template aimed at assisting state regulatory agencies in the development and/or revision of their composting regulations.