Fremont builds first large-scale co-digester in Michigan to convert community waste into electricity

Biomass Magazine reports that Fremont has broken ground on one of the nation’s first community co-digesters that will reduce the amount of organic waste sent to landfills by converting organic and agricultural waste produced by area food processors and industries into electricity, liquid fertilizer and compost.According to excerpts from the story:One of the first large-scale anaerobic digesters using co-digestion in the U.S. has secured its funding and is scheduled to be operational in the summer of 2012. The $22 million Fremont Community Digester project in the western Michigan town of Fremont is owned by entrepreneurial firm Novi Energy LLC and Indus Energy LLC, an investment group in Bingham Farms, Mich. Construction has begun on the facility, which will digest about 100,000 tons per year of both organic and agricultural waste. Feedstock supply contracts are in place with Fremont-based Gerber Products Co., a baby food and baby products company, and several other regional food processers and agricultural operations, according to Novi. The biogas produced at the plant will be used to generate 3 megawatts (MW) of electricity, which will be sold to Michigan utility Consumers Energy under a long-term agreement, according to Novi. Read the complete story here.