You can think of an anaerobic digester as a big metal stomach. Biodegradables go in, get composted, and turned into energy. And now, the hope is that the waste turns into a profit.
Matthew Freund, president of Freund鈥檚 Farm in East Canaan, said that anaerobic digestion technology let him diversify his business. A unit built in 1997 took in cow manure and allowed him to create a new product: biodegradable seed planters called 鈥淐owPots.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a flow chart of the cow,鈥� Freund said. 鈥淪he backs up to an anaerobic digester, does her business. We digest it and make energy. Then we create the fibers, making the 鈥楥owPots.鈥� So it鈥檚 full circle, the cow gives us everything.鈥�
The planters were popular with gardners. And now, Freund鈥檚 farm is hoping to take that business to the next level. They鈥檝e partnered with with Vanguard Renewables to build a new anaerobic digestion unit, which could also take in food waste from surrounding towns.
It鈥檚 all in response to . Vanguard would lease the land from Freund and sell the electricity back into the grid.
John Hanselman is Vanguard鈥檚 CEO. He said the untapped quantities of food waste sitting in Connecticut right now could mean big profits.
鈥淭he potential — I think — for renewable energy generation from anaerobics, is enormous,鈥� he said.
It also means an easy place for farmers like Freund to put their cow manure, which helps cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
鈥淎 real hope was to be able to produce renewable energy from farm waste, in combination with food waste,鈥� Hanselman said, 鈥渁s well as reducing their carbon impact, their greenhouse gas emissions, and their odors.鈥�
Vanguard is working on another anaerobic digestion proposal with Oak Ridge Dairy in Ellington. And the company currently operates three anaerobic digestion units in Massachusetts with another two in development.
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