Top: Vanguard Renewables’ digesters installed at Goodrich Family Farm. Photo by Nora Goldstein

Goodrich Family Farm in Salisbury, Vermont hosted the official grand opening of an anaerobic digestion facility at its 900-cow dairy farm on July 21. The new facility, built, owned and operated by Vanguard Renewables, is designed to recycle about 180 tons/day of food and beverage waste from manufacturers, retailers and distributors, with 100 tons/day of dairy manure. The biogas is upgraded to renewable natural gas (RNG) and injected into the Vermont Gas (VGS) pipeline. Middlebury College in nearby Middlebury (VT) will buy about 55% of the RNG produced annually from the project, supplying about one-third of the energy that Middlebury uses for heating and cooling.

“This is an incredibly exciting initiative, and I want to thank the Goodrich Family, VGS, and Middlebury College for their hard work,” said Vermont Governor Phil Scott at the grand opening. “Think about it — we’ve got a Vermont farm, a Vermont utility, a Vermont college, and national energy innovators all coming together to build a model for our region. And it can be replicated in other parts of the state, and country, as well. This is truly transformative work that Vermonters can be proud of.”

BioCycle toured the codigestion facility at Goodrich Family Farm several days before the grand opening. The feature article will appear in an August edition of BioCycle CONNECT.