Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 11/3/15


A project being built on a Smithfield Foods hog production plant that's being described as the largest livestock manure-to-energy project of its kind is expected to be operational by mid-2016, its developers announced.

Roeslein Alternative Energy said Phase One of the $120-million project is 50-percent complete and on schedule to successfully install impermeable covers and flare systems on 88 manure lagoons at the Smithfield facility in Albany, Mo. The covers prevent methane gas from entering the atmosphere and reduce odor by blocking rainfall landing in the lagoons.

The second phase will involve installing technology to purify the biogas under the covers and developing a natural gas pipeline designed to open in 2016.

The project is expected to process waste from 2 million pigs and to eventually generate about 2.2 million cubic feet of pipeline-quality natural gas, or the equivalent of 17 million gallons of diesel fuel annually. The project also is expected to prevent about 850,000 tons of methane from reaching the atmosphere.

The developers believe the project has applications for farms across the United States and for use in developing countries that are looking for better ways to sustainably manage natural resources and energy production.

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