Palmetto
BioGas
Renewable Energy Solution
Charleston County's
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The American Biogas Council is the U.S. national trade association for the biogas industry, providing expert policy research, advocacy, networking resources, and training to the community. The snippets of information presented here is from their research.
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Education is the single most important leveraging factor in public perception of anaerobic digestion's product, biogas. Please read the description of biogas in the blue box in the figure below.
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Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is the process of microbes breaking down organic matter for their own metabolism in anaerobic conditions (no oxygen). As the molecules become smaller, you end up at the final step of the carbon cycle, where carbon dioxide is converted into methane. This last step occurs naturally in soil, water, and even animal's digestive systems all over the planet.
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As part of concerns with responsible environmental stewardship (GHGs and CECs), growing organic waste disposal legislation (Divert), and local goals for energy and sustainability (Charleston County's Comprehensive Five Year Plan), implementing an AD facility in Charleston is an important and responsible step forward.Â
Compelling points and supporting information:
*Note. Â Not all of these points specifically apply to PBG or represent the intent with PBG's proposed AD facility.
Natural solutions, financially sustainable
The upfront cost of designing, engineering, and constructing an AD facility are substantial. Financial investment can be considered too risky without proper planning. AD facilities that don't account for things such as feedstock and digestate logistics, uncertainty in process stability, and the permitting requirements for operating with waste can face significant delays in scheduling and unexpected surges in costs.
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We've visited regional successes such as Raleigh's Bioenergy Project, pictured right, and have gained valuable relationships with industry experts, research academics, and government programs.
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Our  R&D focuses on technology innovation - Current AD facilities utilize sensors, HMIs, and process controls, as well as operational experience, to maintain stable operating conditions. However, understanding current process dynamics is a challenge (you can't just peer inside and ask the microbes what they're up to!). Modeling the AD process computationally is an opportunity to better understand the AD conditions, which can be recorded, and then serve as plant-specific historical operational data. This aids in optimizing the operation as a whole, reducing process uncertainty and overall project risks and expenses.
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A long-term R&D goal of PBG Â is to develop a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs), so proposed facilities can have a clear pathway towards operationalization. Additionally we want to provide the platform IP for helping establish plant-specific benchmarks and optimization goals, which will be validated in our own AD facility.
