Turning “Waste” into EnergySusie Jiang and Hannah Krohn

2016 TRI-COLLEGEENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

STUDENT CONFERENCE

Saturday, February 20th, 2016Haverford College, PA

Food Waste

● Nationally, 40% of food is wasted● Problem

○ Waste○ Adds unnecessarily to landfill○ Releases methane

Source: Oregonmetro.gov

Bi-Co Food Waste

Bryn Mawr: 350 lbs of compostable food waste per day for each of Bryn Mawr’s two dining halls (November 2011)

Haverford: ?

Current methods of diversion: composting and landfilling

Current food waste diversion methods

Landfill Composting

Anaerobic Digestion

Three-Step Process ● Food Waste as

Feedstock ● Oxygen-depleted

environment ● Biogas Production ● Various end use of

biogas

End Use Bi-Co Facilities: Bryn Mawr and Fuel

End Use Bi-Co Facilities: Haverford Fertilizer and Heat

Greenhouse HaverFarm

Realizing Electricity and Heat Potential Options

● Upgrade and Pipeline Injection

● Microturbines

● Gas Turbines

● Reciprocating Engines

● Fuel Cells

Comparison of Food Waste Disposal Methods

TippingFee

Up-Front Cost

Environmental Cost from transportation

Compost/Fertilizer

Electricity Heat Fuel

Landfill Y N Y N N N N

Off-campus composting

Y N Y N N N N

On-campus Composting

N N N Y N N N

Anaerobic Digestion

N Y N Y Y Y Y

DRAFT Horse Anaerobic Digester

Key Data:

● $ 108,200

● 500 Square Feet

● 959 lbs/day input

● 31 ton/year biogas

● 98 ton/year thickened

digestate

● 102,500 kwh/year

● 0.92 GGE/hr

Cost-Benefit Analysis Payback Period Calculation:

How long will it take for an anaerobic digester to pay for itself?

Costs Gains

Up-front Cost No tipping fee

Operational and Maintenance Cost Electricity

Heat

Transportation fuel

Fertilizer

Reduce Carbon Credit?

Case Studies: Collegiate Anaerobic Digestion

UC Davis: on campus Purdue: partnership with West Lafayette Wastewater Treatment Plant (off campus)

Offsite Anaerobic Digestion

Offsite:

● Lancaster area

Source: AgSTAR National Mapping Tool

Haverford

Haverford’s Desirable Feedstock

● Farm, municipal, bio-solids/liquids● Not all feedstocks are created equal● Co-digestion

Source: biogas-renewable-energy.info

Next Steps:

● Connecting with Bryn Mawr Green Groups

● Quantifying variables

● Applying for grants and private partnerships

Quantifying Variables

•Tipping fee: How much are we paying the composting company now to collect the food waste?•Heat & Electricity: How much are we paying for electricity and heat?Where do Haverford and Bryn Mawr get the energy from?•Transportation: Where does the Compressed-Natural Gas fueling station get the natural gas from? •Fertilizer: How much are we paying for the fertilizer for HaverFarm and the student farm at Bryn Mawr?

Policies and Incentives: Helpful

● Private, State, Federal Grants and Loans○ 12 available for PA ○ Governor Wolf’s Budget

● AgStar and USDA support● Net Metering policy

All Incentives Available: 21

Pennsylvania● Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (Pennsylvania)● Alternative Energy Production Tax Credit (Corporate) (Pennsylvania)● Alternative Energy Production Tax Credit (Personal) (Pennsylvania)● Alternative and Clean Energy Program (Pennsylvania)● Alternative and Clean Energy State Grant Program (Pennsylvania)● Alternative and Clean Energy State Loan Program (Pennsylvania)● Interconnection Standards (Pennsylvania)● Net Metering (Pennsylvania)● Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) - Grants

(Pennsylvania)● Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) - Loans and Loan

Guarantees (Pennsylvania)● Pennsylvania Energy Harvest Grant Program (Pennsylvania)

Federal● Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) (Federal)● Conservation Security Program (CSP) Production Incentive (Federal)● Interconnection Standards for Small Generators (Federal)● Modified Accelerated Cost-Recovery System (MACRS) (Federal)● Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds (QECBs) (Federal)● USDA - Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Grants (Federal)

Section 1603 grants Payments for Specified Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits. The grants can foot up to 30 percent of the installation cost for projects that qualify for the federal business energy tax credits (ITC) or production tax credits (PTC) (Greer, 2011). Grants can cover up to 25% of eligible project costs, but are capped at $500,000 (Greer, 2011)

● USDA - Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Loan Guarantees (Federal)

● Value-Added Producer Grant Program (Federal)

Policies and Incentives: Hindrance

In Pennsylvania:

● No corporate or personal tax credit● No performance based, sales tax, or property tax incentives● Recent limit on net metering

Thank You For Your TimeQuestions?