New Reports Highlight Midwest Biogas Opportunity

Great Plains Institute Energy News 4/11/2011

The strong Midwestern agriculture and agribusiness processing industries offer great potential to develop renewable energy from organic waste material. Two new biogas resources published last month speak to the enormous biogas resource potential in the region and profile progress already underway.

The Energy Center of Wisconsin published the Great Lakes Region Food Industry Biogas Casebook profiling operational biogas projects at food processing facilities. The casebook introduces readers to the anaerobic digestion process and how it can work at processing facilities. The casebook provides detailed case studies of 12 operational anaerobic digestion projects at food and beverage processing facilities located in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and New York. This report demonstrates that anaerobic digestion treatment systems can help existing industry facilities reduce costs and produce a reliable source of renewable energy.

Given the significant opportunity for Midwest biogas development, it is important to develop a strategy to efficiently capitalize on the opportunity over time. A strategic plan for biogas development in Wisconsin - The Biogas Opportunity in Wisconsin - was recently released by the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative (WBI). GPI was a stakeholder participant in the plan development process and assisted WBI in developing the plan's policy section. Although the plan is limited to discussing development and research opportunities in Wisconsin, it serves as a useful model for other Midwestern states to strategically address biogas opportunities.

For more information on biogas development, please contact Amanda Bilek at 612-278-7118 or abilek@gpisd.net.