Staff Report
Published Oct. 2, 2009
A biomass energy company based in Sumter says it will work with food processing companies and farmers in the Carolinas to turn agricultural and food industry waste into methane.
“Energy derived from renewable resources is the way of the future,” said Greg A. Thompson, president and CEO of BioEnergy Technologies LLC. “This innovative technology is changing what the agriculture and food processing industries have historically considered ‘waste’ into a viable, business-smart byproduct that can help meet our electricity and thermal energy needs.”
According to the S.C. Biomass Council, biomass is any natural and renewable fuel source in a solid state. Solid fuel is most commonly used to generate electricity through the burning of biomass to create steam.
The majority of solid biomass fuel used in South Carolina is wood, but other forms of solid fuels include waste tires, municipal solid waste, agricultural residues, construction debris and now residues from farm and food processing operations.
BioEnergy Technologies says it will build and operate facilities on farms that generate large volumes of bio-waste or on food processing operations that produce waste with high energy density, such as fats, oils and grease. Doing so will reduce or eliminate the cost of transportation and disposal of the waste.
Anaerobic digestion technology is used to convert the waste to methane, which is then used to produce electricity that can be fed into the distribution grid. The heat generated by the electricity generation equipment can also be recovered and can be used to provide hot water or steam — or cold water, through the use of absorption chilling — for the host facility.
BioEnergy Technologies, which is headquartered in Sumter and has a regional office in Raleigh, N.C., is in the process of identifying its first facility and expects to make an announcement in the next couple of months.
A typical facility, once operational, can have an output of 1 megawatt of electricity generation capacity, enough to power approximately 1,000 homes in the Carolinas.
“With minimal environmental impact and a very small carbon footprint, the system represents a reliable, renewable energy source that is sustainable, clean and green,” Thompson said.
The company also announced its management team, which includes:
- Greg A. Thompson, president and CEO
- Joseph A. Graham, program management
- Andrew C. Snodgrass, business management/IT solutions
- John J. Halbig, business development
- C. Curtis Hutto, controller
- Dean C. Foor, process technology
- Raymond Scherzer, strategic development
- Former Gov. Jim Hodges, business consultant
