AD plant will use chicken litter to produce renewable natural gas in Maryland
This week, CleanBay Renewables
announced that Kiewit Corporation will design, engineer and build CleanBay’s
Westover bio-refinery which, using anaerobic digestion (AD), will recycle more
than 150,000 tons of chicken litter annually and convert it into renewable
natural gas and a nutrient-rich fertilizer product.
Poultry litter is a mixture of
poultry excreta, spilled feed, feathers, and material used as bedding in
poultry operations, according to Wikipedia. Poultry litter is used in
confinement buildings used for raising broilers, turkeys and
other birds. The plant is the first utility-scale anaerobic digestion project
that uses agricultural feedstock for the state of Maryland, according to the
companies.
By repurposing a potential
source of excess nutrients, CleanBay can generate 765,000 MMBTUs of sustainable
renewable natural gas, which it will sell to Chesapeake Utilities.
CleanBay recently announced a partnership with Chesapeake Utilities under which Chesapeake Utilities Corporation will transport the renewable natural gas produced at the plant to Eastern Shore Natural Gas, Chesapeake Utilities Corporation’s interstate infrastructure pipeline, where it will be distributed to end use customers, including low-carbon, renewable vehicle fuel customers.
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CleanBay says that it has a unique
environmental, social, and governance (ESG) profile because its plant reduce
air, soil and water pollution. Without processing, chicken litter releases
nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas with 300 times the impact of CO2. Litter can
also produce nitrogen and phosphorus runoff, which lead to algae blooms that
pollute waterways and create dead zones, said the company.
“The partnership with Kiewit
brings CleanBay’s vision of a sustainable economic model to produce energy,
process waste and return controlled-release nutrients to crop lands for food
production, one step closer to reality,” said Thomas Spangler, CleanBay
Renewables’ Executive Chairman.
“We commend CleanBay on its
commitment to innovation and the environment along with its dedication in
bringing the first utility-scale anaerobic digestion plant focused on
agricultural feedstock to Maryland,” said Brad Kaufman, senior vice president,
Kiewit Corporation.
“Our process goes beyond
recycling waste and reducing pollution,” said Donal Buckley, CleanBay’s Chief
Executive Officer. “By also creating a controlled-release fertilizer containing
humic acid, we’re improving soil health and helping farmers increase production
to meet the ever-increasing demand for food.”
Site preparation is now
underway, and construction is scheduled to begin later this year at the
Westover facility, which will include more than $200 million of capital
investment by CleanBay.
