Jessup Plant To Turn Food Waste Into Energy
JESSUP, Md. (WJZ) -- A plant in Jessup will soon be turning some of Maryland's food waste into energy.
Bioenergy Devco facility is building a first-of-its-kind facility in the state that uses anaerobic digesters, to turn food waste into renewable natural gas.
"We're in the middle of the Maryland Food Center surrounded by food processors and food distributors and we're taking their excess organic material, mostly food waste . . . and we're recycling it, making it into soil amendment products and energy" Bioenergy Devco CEO Shawn Kreloff said.
The plant can generate enough gas for almost 5,000 homes annually.
"We're processing over a hundred thousand tons of organic material that normally would be ending up, again, in a landfill or incinerator," Kreloff said.
The Maryland Department of the Environment estimates that 927,926 tons of food waste are generated every year in the state. The plant would process some of it using food waste from sources such as spoiled food from supermarkets and parts of produce from food processors that are not edible, such as apple cores and banana peels.
The plant is opening just before some Maryland commercial generators of food waste will be required to divert that waste from disposal. Starting in 2023, HB264 stipulates that commercial generators who are within 30 miles of a composting facility and create more than two tons of food waste per week must reduce their waste or divert it to food rescue organizations such as farms for animal feed operations, compost, or anaerobically digest the residuals.
"It requires you to recycle that organic material rather than a landfill or an incinerator and this project can handle that," Kreloff said.
The threshold changes to one ton per week starting in 2024.
The site is privately owned by Bioenergy Devco and will cost about $45 million to $50 million.
Kreloff says that the plant in Jessup does not emit anything into the air.
He also says it prevents food waste that is processed there from creating methane emissions in landfills. Some people are critical of anaerobic digestion because it creates natural gas, which when burned emits carbon dioxide.
Lily Hawkins, the Maryland Organizer with Food & Water Watch said in a statement that "Maryland has a goal of powering our state on 100% renewable electricity by 2040—but it's what counts toward that goal that matters.
"So-called renewable natural gas produced at anaerobic digesters like the Bioenergy Devco facility in Jessup is just as damaging to the climate as natural gas from fracking," Hawkins said. "Each year we throw more and more public dollars toward energy sources that fail to make a dent in our state's climate emissions and extend a lifeline to fossil fuels all the way. Opposition to biogas runs deep in Maryland, and Food & Water Watch and dozens of groups from around the state are calling for the state legislature to pass HB 11—the Reclaim Renewable Energy Act—and stop subsidizing energy sources that emit greenhouse gasses as 'renewable.'"
It's time to "recognize these projects as the industry scam they are" and stop public money from flowing to them, she said. The Maryland director for Clean Water Action, Emily Ranson, wrote to WJZ about the best way to dispose of food waste. Composting is the best strategy because it can be done at both large and small scale, Ranson said. Also, composting creates an economic opportunity because it is accessible to small businesses and farmers, and it sequesters carbon in soils, revitalizing them for growing food.
"Anaerobic digestion, unlike compost, creates methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change," Ranson said. "We should not subsidize energy production that contributes to the climate crisis as 'renewable'—we can't burn our way to a healthier climate."
Bioenergy Devco defended anaerobic digestion in a follow-up statement to WJZ.
"Anaerobic digestion is a completely enclosed organic recycling technology that naturally transforms organic material, such as food waste, inside tanks into renewable energy and a soil amendment similar to compost," according to the statement. "The gas created during this natural process is trapped and can be used by consumers to power their homes and businesses: no extracting or burning for energy. In fact, renewable natural gas is a stepping stone to the production of clean green hydrogen."
The statement went on to explain that according to the EPA's waste management hierarchy, anaerobic digestion ranks higher than composting, incineration, and landfilling for handling organic material.
By naturally digesting organic waste and preventing methane emissions from decomposition, Bioenergy Devco believes it can divert the equivalent to shutting down 33 coal-fired plants in the United States.
Company officials noted that less than 1% of the Jessup facility is grant-funded. For the most part, it is a privately funded project. That facility should start contributing to BGE's gas line by this summer.
To get in contact with Bioenergy Devco, visit bioenergydevco.com/contact/
