Converting Food Waste to Renewable Energy
Converting Food Waste to Renewable Energy
EPA's Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld, City of San José Mayor Chuck Reed, and San José Council Member Xavier Campos visited the city’s Zero Waste Energy Development anaerobic digestion facility where food scraps are turned into renewable energy and compost for local farms. The facility’s state-of-the-art dry anaerobic digesters use bacteria to break down food waste in an oxygen-free environment, converting it into methane biogas to generate electricity. The facility can digest and compost 90,000 tons of food waste and produce 1.6 megawatts per year. San José aims to achieve zero waste by 2022 and now diverts 74% of materials from the landfill through reuse, recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion.
Photos
EPA Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld, inside the Zero Waste Energy Development facility.
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Zero Waste Energy Development captures methane from food waste to generate electricity for its recycling operations.
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Zero Waste Energy Development deodorizer.
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Gas storage bladder on the roof.
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Zero Waste expert Amanda Hong views food scraps in 1 of 16 anaerobic digesters inside the Zero Waste Energy Development facility.
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Greenwaste Director Emily Hanson views the finished product: food waste turned into compost for local farms.
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Zero Waste Energy Development engine and compost.
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Anaerobic digestion tunnel doors.
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