Chevron and waste solutions provider Brightmark have opened a renewable gas center in Arizona capable of turning dairy manure into biogas, expanding the companies’ joint effort to grow alternative fuel sources through anaerobic digestion.
The facility in Eloy, Arizona, uses animal manure from partner sites and converts it into renewable natural gas, fertilizer and water. Those products are then recycled back into agricultural and energy systems for reuse, according to the announcement.
The companies, which jointly operate a nationwide system of renewable gas projects through a venture called Brightmark RNG Holdings LLC, partnered with Caballero Dairy to operate its on-farm lagoon anaerobic digesters for the project. Captured biogas will be utilized as fuel for the El Paso Natural Gas Pipeline.
This is the joint venture’s first foray into the Southwest after establishing more than 20 dairy digester projects in the U.S., primarily concentrated in the Midwest. This expansion comes as more innovations emerge to meet surging demand for biofuels that can power trucks, airplanes and maritime ships.
“Moving to a future energy economy with lower carbon intensity requires ambitious goals, continuous innovation, and pragmatic solutions,” Andy Walz, president of Chevron Americas Products, said in a statement. “Continued development in renewable natural gas projects creates new, lower carbon-intensity solutions for transportation, industry, and customers.”
The manure expected to be processed by the center will be equivalent to the effect of planting over 37,000 acres of forest annually, according to the announcement. Despite touted environmental benefits, anaerobic digesters have faced public scrutiny for their potential to leak sludge and encourage the growth of large-scale industrial farming.