Renewable Energy
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The Challenge and A Solution
CA has adopted legislation setting goals for reduction of methane emissions in the state and creating an array of incentives to build and operate anaerobic digesters (ADs) to process organic wastes — the strongest combination of incentives for rapid development and sustained use of ADs by any state in the nation. California’s program has supported development of digesters in many other states, where the biogas generated can connect via pipeline with the California system.
Our technology and services, based on the iBioBooster (or “iBB system”), offer the ability, demonstrated in a half-dozen projects in Italy and China, to increase biogas production with higher methane content yielding an increase in total methane capture on the order of 8-28% in a range of types of ADs.
That increment in renewable natural gas production and total methane capture not only can help California meet its renewable energy and methane emission reduction goals, but also immediately will yield an identifiable increase in AD-generated revenues for AD owners and operators.
iBioBooster(iBB) Process: History
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First applied in Italy. At underperforming commercial digesters fueled by energy crops, bioengineer Luciano Pesce and Italian company Biobooster srl, working with scientists at the University of Perugia and the Italy Research Centre for Animal Production, developed a new approach to maximizing digester operators’ net revenue opportunity of a feed-in tariff rate for biogas projects delivering <1MW of power. The solution increased and sustained biogas production / power delivery at the tariff limit and significantly reduced feedstock and nutrient costs per produced unit of biogas.
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iBB System. The Italy project solutions evolved into the iBioBooster (iBB) process, applying bio-acceleration and bio-automation to increase and stabilize a digester’s methanogen populations, methanogenic process, and biogas production with high methane content.
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China iBB Projects. Eng. Pesce has led successful iBB process demonstrations at industrial digesters in China processing separated wastewater from manure of 10,000- pigs, and wastewater from a major cassava-to-alcohol distillery, significantly increasing and sustaining biogas quantity and quality (higher methane content, less CO2 and H2S).
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Current China Project. Pesce now is engaged in a third China project, to upgrade biogas production and methane content at a digester plant of two identical 5000m 3 CSTR tanks, to operate as a two-phase system processing separated pig farm wastewater and manure.
Basic iBB Process Goal: Biological Optimization for Anaerobic Digestion.
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Basic Goal: Develop a versatile, low-cost, low lead-time, easily applied process, with no significant adverse operational or environmental impact, to help any digester attain its full potential to produce biogas with high methane content.
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Basic iBB Process Mission: Establish and maintain in a digester plant robust populations of the methanogens responsible for producing biogas and methane from the volatile solids present in the digester’s substrate.
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Shortcutting the Traditional Digester System Management Process. Typically, a digester’s digestion system is addressed by management of the full digester system, where, however, digester size, substrate volume, and slow pace of the digestion process may delay the results of management adjustments. The iBB system provides a shortcut to boosting digester methanogen populations, reducing time, cost, and uncertainty in improving digester performance.
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Scale of the iBB System: The system is designed to simulate, then optimize, a digester’s methanogenic process in a controlled, instrumented, automated 1-3m 3 offline bioreactor of a size midway between lab-scale and full digester pilot plant, to create and sustain a microenvironment favorable to accelerating and stabilizing the methanogenic process and methanogen regeneration rate in a borrowed sample of a digester’s substrate.
Estimate: 387 Anaerobic Digesters Currently Are Operating or Are in Development in California
California Anaerobic Digesters
According to California Dairy Industry information (last updated October 2022) https://www.dairycares.com/dairy-digesters:
- Dairy digesters are providing the largest greenhouse gas reduction of all investments in California’s climate action portfolio.
- In total, California has 236 dairy digester projects, capturing methane from 254 dairy farms, and creating either renewable electricity, renewable natural gas, or hydrogen fuel.
- California is home to 17 “clusters” of dairy digesters in various stages of development. Clusters are groups of digesters that share a centralized gas cleanup facility, where the captured dairy biogas is upgraded and then injected into natural gas pipeline, so it can be used as carbon-negative transportation fuel. This is known as a “hub and spoke” model. A total of 214 dairy farms are currently planned to be included within the 17 developing clusters.
- Additionally, another 40 California dairy farms have digesters (operating or in development) that are not a part of a cluster.
- The California Dairy industry represents that, through the development of dairy digesters alone, California dairy farms will soon be reducing releases of greenhouse gases by a total of more than 2.2 million metric tons (CO2-equivalent) per year.
- Bio-Tronic Energy-CA iBB Systems – Based on (1) the DairyCares estimate of 2.2 million metric tons of CO2e/year, and (2) iBB Systems’ performance to date in improving methane capture in the range of 8-28% at five commercial-scale applications:
IF iBB systems were added to every dairy digester included in the DairyCares projection, these further reductions of methane releases could be achieved:
| Range of + Metric Tons (MT)/Yr By Adding iBB | 20-Yr Total (iBB) |
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+ 5% methane capture – 110,000 MT CO2e/yr | 2,200,000 MT CO2e |
+ 10% methane capture – 220,000 MT CO2e/yr | 4,400,000 MT CO2e |
+ 15% methane capture – 330,000 MT CO2e/yr | 6,600,000 MT CO2e |
+ 20% methane capture – 440,000 MT CO2e/yr | 8,800,000 MT CO2e |
In California, anaerobic digestion has established a strong presence in the Municipal Waste Water Resource Facility sector.
159 WRRFs in California either have anaerobic digesters or send solids to be treated by anaerobic digestion at another facility. Digested wastewater solids are producing biogas for electricity or heat in digesters onsite or at a 3rd party site. Source: http://www.resourcerecoverydata.org/biogasdata.php
In California, anaerobic digestion has established a strong presence in the Municipal Solid Waste Stream and Co-Digestion sectors:
Stand-Alone Anaerobic Digesters (22)
As of May 2021, 11 Stand-Alone Digesters were operational, 9 more were pending, and 2 were inactive.
Co-Digestion Anaerobic Digesters (12)
[e.g., food waste, food and green waste, fats/oils/grease (FOG), sewage sludge, manure].
As of May 2021, 4 Co-Digestion Anaerobic Digesters were operational and 6 were pending; 1 was inactive.
Source for Stand-Alone Digesters and Co-Digestion Digesters: https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/Docs/Web/115971