JBS to open Nebraska biogas plant
US meat processing company JBS-Swift has announced it will open a biogas generation facility next to its Grand Island, Nebraska, beef packing plant in April.
The beef packing plant slaughters 6,000 cattle each day.
The operation, which will be owned and managed by Microgy, a subsidiary of Swift partner Environmental Power, is expected to generate 235,000 MMBtu of power a year, the equivalent of approximately 1.7 million gallons of oil, or about 25% of the Grand Island plant’s annual natural gas intake.
Benham Cos, based in St. Louis, Missouri, will design and build the facility.
Manure will be processed in two 1.2-million-gallon digesters and converted to methane, which will then be used to fuel energy production after the gas is processed in a purifier.
‘We will be using the energy to run our boilers,’ David Colwell, who heads JBS-Swift's US beef operations, says.
Colwell adds it is possible the biogas operation could ultimately generate enough power to sell excess energy to the Grand Island community, though the immediate focus is on the energy needs of the packing plant.
The digested manure comes out as compostable material, which can be land-applied directly or can be composted further.
The biogas facility is expected to cost $7 million (€5.4 million).
The operation joins a handful of biogas and biofuel operations already established in the meat industry by Tyson Foods, among a small group of other processors.
The beef packing plant slaughters 6,000 cattle each day.
The operation, which will be owned and managed by Microgy, a subsidiary of Swift partner Environmental Power, is expected to generate 235,000 MMBtu of power a year, the equivalent of approximately 1.7 million gallons of oil, or about 25% of the Grand Island plant’s annual natural gas intake.
Benham Cos, based in St. Louis, Missouri, will design and build the facility.
Manure will be processed in two 1.2-million-gallon digesters and converted to methane, which will then be used to fuel energy production after the gas is processed in a purifier.
‘We will be using the energy to run our boilers,’ David Colwell, who heads JBS-Swift's US beef operations, says.
Colwell adds it is possible the biogas operation could ultimately generate enough power to sell excess energy to the Grand Island community, though the immediate focus is on the energy needs of the packing plant.
The digested manure comes out as compostable material, which can be land-applied directly or can be composted further.
The biogas facility is expected to cost $7 million (€5.4 million).
The operation joins a handful of biogas and biofuel operations already established in the meat industry by Tyson Foods, among a small group of other processors.
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