1. Turning “Waste” into Energy
Susie Jiang and Hannah Krohn
2016 TRI-COLLEGE
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
STUDENT CONFERENCE
Saturday, February 20th, 2016
Haverford College, PA

2. Food Waste
● Nationally, 40% of food is wasted
● Problem
○ Waste
○ Adds unnecessarily to landfill
○ Releases methane
Source: Oregonmetro.gov

3. Bi-Co Food Waste
Bryn Mawr: 350 lbs of compostable food waste per day for each of Bryn Mawr’s
two dining halls (November 2011)
Haverford: ?
Current methods of diversion: composting
and landfilling

4. Current food waste diversion methods
Landfill Composting

5. Anaerobic Digestion
Three-Step Process
● Food Waste as
Feedstock
● Oxygen-depleted
environment
● Biogas Production
● Various end use of
biogas

6. End Use Bi-Co Facilities: Bryn Mawr and Fuel

7. End Use Bi-Co Facilities: Haverford
Fertilizer and Heat
Greenhouse HaverFarm

8. Realizing Electricity and Heat Potential
Options
● Upgrade and Pipeline Injection
● Microturbines
● Gas Turbines
● Reciprocating Engines
● Fuel Cells

9. Comparison of Food Waste Disposal Methods
Tipping
Fee
Up-Front
Cost
Environmental Cost
from transportation
Compost/
Fertilizer
Electricity Heat Fuel
Landfill Y N Y N N N N
Off-campus
composting
Y N Y N N N N
On-campus
Composting
N N N Y N N N
Anaerobic
Digestion
N Y N Y Y Y Y

10. DRAFT Horse Anaerobic Digester
Key Data:
● $ 108,200
● 500 Square Feet
● 959 lbs/day input
● 31 ton/year biogas
● 98 ton/year thickened
digestate
● 102,500 kwh/year
● 0.92 GGE/hr

11. Cost-Benefit Analysis
Payback Period Calculation:
How long will it take for an anaerobic digester to pay for itself?
Costs Gains
Up-front Cost No tipping fee
Operational and Maintenance Cost Electricity
Heat
Transportation fuel
Fertilizer
Reduce Carbon Credit?

12. Case Studies: Collegiate Anaerobic
Digestion
UC Davis: on campus Purdue: partnership with West
Lafayette Wastewater Treatment
Plant (off campus)

13. Offsite Anaerobic Digestion
Offsite:
● Lancaster area
Source: AgSTAR National Mapping Tool
Haverford

14. Haverford’s Desirable Feedstock
● Farm, municipal, bio-solids/liquids
● Not all feedstocks are created equal
● Co-digestion
Source: biogas-renewable-energy.info

15. Next Steps:
● Connecting with Bryn Mawr Green Groups
● Quantifying variables
● Applying for grants and private partnerships

16. Quantifying Variables
•Tipping fee:
How much are we paying the composting company now to collect the food waste?
•Heat & Electricity:
How much are we paying for electricity and heat?
Where do Haverford and Bryn Mawr get the energy from?
•Transportation:
Where does the Compressed-Natural Gas fueling station get the natural gas from?
•Fertilizer:
How much are we paying for the fertilizer for HaverFarm and the student farm at Bryn
Mawr?

17. Policies and Incentives: Helpful
● Private, State, Federal Grants and Loans
○ 12 available for PA
○ Governor Wolf’s Budget
● AgStar and USDA support
● Net Metering policy

18. All Incentives Available: 21
Pennsylvania
● Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (Pennsylvania)
● Alternative Energy Production Tax Credit (Corporate) (Pennsylvania)
● Alternative Energy Production Tax Credit (Personal) (Pennsylvania)
● Alternative and Clean Energy Program (Pennsylvania)
● Alternative and Clean Energy State Grant Program (Pennsylvania)
● Alternative and Clean Energy State Loan Program (Pennsylvania)
● Interconnection Standards (Pennsylvania)
● Net Metering (Pennsylvania)
● Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) - Grants
(Pennsylvania)
● Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) - Loans and Loan
Guarantees (Pennsylvania)
● Pennsylvania Energy Harvest Grant Program (Pennsylvania)
Federal
● Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) (Federal)
● Conservation Security Program (CSP) Production Incentive (Federal)
● Interconnection Standards for Small Generators (Federal)
● Modified Accelerated Cost-Recovery System (MACRS) (Federal)
● Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds (QECBs) (Federal)
● USDA - Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Grants (Federal)
Section 1603 grants Payments for Specified Energy Property in Lieu of
Tax Credits. The grants can foot up to 30 percent of the installation cost
for projects that qualify for the federal business energy tax credits (ITC)
or production tax credits (PTC) (Greer, 2011). Grants can cover up to
25% of eligible project costs, but are capped at $500,000 (Greer, 2011)
● USDA - Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Loan Guarantees
(Federal)
● Value-Added Producer Grant Program (Federal)

19. Policies and Incentives: Hindrance
In Pennsylvania:
● No corporate or personal tax credit
● No performance based, sales tax, or property tax incentives
● Recent limit on net metering

20. Thank You For Your Time
Questions?