Source: Yakima Herald-Republic, May 28, 2020
Two Lower Valley dairies and a company that provides filtration for animal waste have been awarded a share of $970,000 in grants from the state Department of Commerce for clean energy projects.
The funds are from the state’s Clean Energy Fund under its Dairy Digester Enhancement Program. They are intended for programs that convert animal waste into usable energy, such as biogas.
All grants must be matched dollar for dollar with non-state funds.
“Energy resilience is crucial to strengthening rural communities. These new anaerobic digester projects, supported through the Washington Clean Energy Fund, have multiple potential benefits to the dairy industry, local residents and the environment,” said Commerce Director Lisa Brown.
Two Outlook dairies owned by the same family, George DeRuyter and Sons and D&A, have received a $164,145 grant for a project that aims to improve operations of its anaerobic digester, which converts animal manure into biogas, according to a Commerce news release.
The project is expected to greatly reduce the volume of water mixed with manure and improve digester capacity, efficiency and biogas production as well as nutrient and fiber recovery, the release said.
Organix, Inc., a animal manure filtering company in Outlook, received $205,855 for its project, a comprehensive pilot study to investigate the benefits of processing anaerobic digester effluent using the BioFiltro BIDA system. The system is expected to improve air quality by mitigating noxious odors, reduce greenhouse gases and clean water for reuse in the dairy flush system, the release said.