DOVER – FPU Renewables LLC revealed plans to build, own, and run a dairy manure renewable natural gas (RNG) facility at Full Circle Dairy in Madison County, Florida. FPU Renewables and its parent, Florida Public Utilities Company, are subsidiaries of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation.
“Chesapeake Utilities is committed to being a leader in the transition to a lower-carbon future,” Jeff Householder, president and CEO, said in a statement. “We continue to look for ways to displace more carbon-intensive fuels, and we’re working hard to develop waste-to-energy production facilities, and associated infrastructure, that improve agricultural conditions in Florida and other service areas. Collaborations such as the one with Full Circle Dairy are continuing to move both the energy and agricultural industries toward a more sustainable future.”
The project will produce an average of 100,000 dekatherms of RNG yearly by capturing and cleaning methane from cow dung. The project entails a $22 million capital expenditure, with the first RNG infusion anticipated in 2024. To sell the RNG produced at the project, Chesapeake Utilities is considering further investment options. A number of RNG offtake alternatives are also being thought about.
Full Circle Dairy, which has been running and milking cows since 2006, recycles agricultural waste by applying it as fertilizer to the fields where the herd’s food is grown. Full Circle Dairy decreases methane and greenhouse gas emissions, create an even more sustainable manure management system for the farm, and produces valuable pipeline-quality RNG.
The project is estimated to capture and redirect approximately 1,116 metric tons (mt) of methane per year, which is 27,900 mt of carbon dioxide equivalent. Using the EPA greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator, these numbers reflect a minimum greenhouse gas emissions reduction equivalent to 6,012 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year and CO2 emissions reduction equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 3,514 homes.
This dairy to RNG facility continues Chesapeake Utilities’ acceleration of RNG-related investments, beginning with the Noble Road RNG pipeline project in Ohio; the acquisition of Planet Found Energy Development, LLC, a poultry waste to biogas pilot facility in Maryland; and the recent announcement of a RNG injection site in Nassau County, Florida.