Smithfield Foods is a partner in making natural gas out of hog manure. Methane gas is being captured by Roeslein Alternative Energy (RAE) at Smithfield hog production facilities in North Missouri – which is purified and sold as renewable natural gas (RNG) to the California market. Rudi Roeslein, CEO of the energy company, tells Brownfield Ag News it’s sold on the federal market through an EPA program, “Called the D3 RIN which tries to come up with material that’s produced from cellulose and manure is actually, in 2015, qualified as a cellulosic product of renewable natural gas.” Kraig Westerbeek, Smithfield’s Director of Renewables, tells Brownfield the project fits in well with their sustainability plans, “Capturing that leftover energy that’s already been bought and paid for in the form of corn and making it into renewable energy makes a lot of sense.” The joint venture is called Monarch Bioenergy.
Continue reading Smithfield and RAE making renewable natural gas at Brownfield Ag News.
