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Demand growing for biogas-to-energy technology

Municipal authorities and waste companies are increasingly seeing the value in their waste streams, according to biogas technology firm AFT

Demand for biogas-to-energy technology is now growing rapidly in the US, according to Washington State company Applied Filter Technology.

The firm’s CEO Paul Tower writes in a BrighterEnergy.org Viewpoint article today that biogas offers huge potential as a “bridge fuel” to help America move away from dependence on foreign oil.

Biogas – largely comprised of bio-methane – is a byproduct of the decomposition of organic matter, and can be sourced from any organic waste stream.

Wastewater treatment plants, landfill sites, breweries, farms and many other sources of organic waste are increasingly using their resources to generate energy.

Traditionally, many landfills and sewage plants flared off their biogas, but Mr Tower said increasingly companies and municipal authorities are recognizing the energy value within the resource.

Today’s technology means a relatively simple conditioning process can turn these facilities into a locally-sourced, reliable and readily available energy source, he explained.

Demand

“The demand for this technology is incredibly high—we are getting requests every day to bid on projects,” Mr Tower said.

“People recognize that this is a real, viable solution to our current dependence on foreign oil and they want to implement a solution as quickly as possible.”

Applied Filter Technology (AFT), which is based in Snohomish, Washington, has been designing, installing and operating biogas-to-energy systems since 1996.

It provides facilities including a range of biogas cleaning technology for manufacturers, consultants, municipalities and energy companies.

Jobs

AFT has been growing rapidly, taking on eight new engineers in the past six months and boosting its sales force. It still has about half a dozen positions open.

Mr Tower said: “We have been staffing up for the past six months to help meet the needs of our customers—eight new engineers and more than 30 sales reps across the United States—which truly shows the high demand for this technology and our commitment to delivering it.”

The company said the economic impact of biogas as a renewable energy stream is impressive, effectively creating an entirely new industry, along with attendant jobs, while delivering a clean, reliable and profitable energy source from raw materials that would otherwise be thrown away.