Posted by Snow in 
Food waste from 2,300 restaurants is reworked in a new Bay area facility to tank up new efforts at sustainable living. Food scraps are pulped to create a methane producing soup, and the methane gas created is conducted to the grid. All from leftovers that would have stuffed the landfills and created extraneous gases elsewhere.
It doesn’t get more eco-friendly than that. The food scrap concept seems to be working the compost end of the green rainbow for alternative energy needs. Leftover food pulp is then used as compost fodder. No waste to the process. All from existing equipment operable everywhere.
All the process needs now is a clever and catchy name.
How does it work? Nature processes the scraps over a 20 day cycle and the facility extracts the methane gas produced. The restaurants and their staff that participate in the program are given special containers to house the scraps. Separators at the plant take out silverware, rocks, and other detritus before pulping.
If 1300 homes can be powered by 5 megawatts delivered (in future projections), then this program multiplied by municipal and community power programs nationwide could cut a swath through energy production needs drawing expensive and nonrenewable power supply resources.
The food scrapping project collects restaurant scraps that end up in a treatment facility where the food decomposes, creating methane gas that can be turned into renewable energy. This pioneer program is developed at the East Bay Municipal Utility District. A 2006 grant has created the program.
Soon the EBMUD will be selling energy back to the grid. Yes, that’s right. Alt energy reselling back (literally) to the powers that be. All this from a microbe laden wastewater treatment plant in Oakland. Americans like to dine out, and the program makes use of the consumer demand for food by finding an efficient use for the waste.
Pacific Gas & Electric can use the megawatts, 5 of which the EBMUD hopes to be zipping back to the grid by 2010. The process derives the methane gas from a soupifying process which separates food materials into a liquefied paste of scraps. Equipment at the plant then converts the methane gas to energy.
Ribbons of methane gas energy produced in this manner could really alleviate power grid maintenance worries and overall consumption pressures felt by municipal power grids everywhere. Stripes of methane gas food scrap alt energy could supplement wind turbine and solar power to reduce generation needs form less sustainable sources.
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