WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ohio companies will receive new federal resources to expand clean energy production, reduce energy costs, improve water quality, and create jobs. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced more than $10 million for Ohio companies to install biodigester projects in Cuyahoga, Morrow, Paulding, Summit, Wayne, and Williams Counties. The funding was awarded through a competitive process by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) through a competitive process.
“This will build on Ohio’s proud agricultural heritage to create jobs in the clean energy economy,” Brown said. “Ohio companies are emerging as national leaders in biodigester technology,” Brown said. “These projects allow Ohio’s agricultural producers to tap into the growing clean energy economy – improving conservation practices and creating jobs throughout our state.”
Anaerobic digesters, called biodigesters, convert organic matter in manure into a valuable biogas—methane. Methane is a renewable energy that can be used for facility heating and converted to electricity or compressed natural gas (CNG), an alternative motor vehicle fuel.
With the production of methane from livestock manure, availability of CNG as a motor vehicle fuel could provide lower costs and cleaner air for the community. Installation of biodigesters to manage livestock manure open markets for agricultural producers to break into the clean energy economy.
Brown fought for funding of a different biodigester project to address algal blooms in Grand Lake St. Marys. In Aug. 2011, the USDA awarded $1 million to quasar to bring the technology to the region. In March 2011, Brown urged USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to support the grant application filed by quasar energy group, a northeast Ohio company. Brown’s office also convened stakeholders, including state and federal agencies, community leaders, and rural energy groups, at a roundtable at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus.
Brown, chair of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Jobs, Rural Economic Growth, and Energy, is working to ensure that the 2012 Farm Bill includes tools to increase conservation efforts and boost the clean energy industry throughout the state.
Below are details on the methane digester projects:
Company |
County |
Project Funding |
Belmont County Bioenergy, LLC |
Belmont |
$1,250,000 |
Haviland Energy, LLC |
Paulding |
$1,100,000 |
Lime Lakes Energy, LLC |
Summit |
$2,000,000
|
Mill Creek Digester, LLC |
Williams |
$1,099,924
|
Ringler Energy, LLC |
Morrow |
$3,738,750
|
Wooster Renewable Energy, LLC
|
Wayne |
$1,250,000 |
OHIO TOTAL
|
$10,438,674 |
|
