Gevo Inc. has broken ground on a renewable natural gas (RNG) project located in Northwest Iowa, that will generate RNG captured from dairy cow manure.
“Breaking ground on this project is an exciting step in bringing Gevo’s net-zero strategy closer to life,” said Dr. Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo. “Upon completion of the project in 2022, the digesters are anticipated to generate approximately 355,000 MMBtu of RNG per year and reduce significant quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from being released into the atmosphere. After the methane is extracted from the processed manure, the remaining solids will be returned to the farmers as soil nutrients for use as fertilizer. This will allow the farmers to reduce their raw manure application, which will improve odor, water quality, and nutrient management practices.”
The feedstock for the RNG project will be supplied by three dairy farms located in Northwest Iowa totaling over 20,000 milking cows. Two of the dairy farms are located in Lyon County and the third is located in Sioux County. Gevo is working with a major RNG dispenser to finalize an agreement to sell the RNG into the California market.
An anaerobic digester and biogas dehydration and compression equipment will be constructed on-site at each of the three dairy farms. The digesters have no ability to store biogas, and each will incorporate at least one flare to flare off any gas that cannot be immediately transported. Each digester will also incorporate at least one pressure relief valve to prevent digester over pressurization in the event the flares cannot dispose of all produced biogas. Boilers needed to heat the digesters will run on natural gas purchased from Northern Natural Gas, which will be transported by pipeline to each digester site.
