22 Jun 2023 | 19:37 UTC
Viridi Energy, American Organic Energy to collaborate on food waste-to-RNG project
By Hope Raymond
Highlights
Facility to divert 210,000 mt/year waste from New York City
Aims to produce RNG equivalent to 10 mil gallons gasoline annually
Viridi Energy, a renewable natural gas platform, has partnered with American Organic Energy to develop one of the largest food waste-to-RNG projects in the US, the company said June 22.
The landmark facility will produce RNG and fertilizer from food waste diverted from landfills in the New York City metropolitan area.
The anaerobic digestion facility, located in Yaphank, New York, is expected to convert approximately 210,000 mt of waste each year, which equates to the total annual food waste of Dallas, Texas.
The RNG produced at the facility is expected to have a carbon intensity of -100 CO2e/MJ, with the project estimated to reduce approximately 100,000 mt of CO2 emissions per year, according to the company's press release.
Viridi signed a 20-year offtake agreement with FortisBC, a British Columbia-based regulated gas utility, which will deliver the RNG to its customers. This long-term offtake agreement will allow them to avoid "being dependent upon the credit markets," the press release said, referring to the US Renewable Fuel Standard and the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which typically underpin the value of RNG being sold into the transport fuels sector.
The price of the RNG in the offtake agreement was not disclosed.
Platts assessed the North America Renewable Natural Gas Premium (excl. California) at $23.25/MMBtu on June 21.
"This landmark project demonstrates to the renewable energy industry that large-scale food waste-to-RNG projects are viable as robust financial investments and as environmentally impactful solutions to our greenhouse gas emissions and food waste crises," Viridi CEO Dan Crouse said in a statement June 22.