Salmas Law Group

WASTE NOT

In 1985’s “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome,” Tina Turner’s character ruled over Bartertown with an iron fist, but that was not what gave her “power.” Her power came from pigs -- their waste to be exact. The pig waste created methane that was funneled through a pipeline to provide power for the entire town. By controlling this lucrative natural resource she was also able to control the town. Although the movie was made over 25 years ago, the concepts are becoming a reality.

Today, cocoa shells, brewery wastewater and onion juice = POWER.

Food companies such as Lindt, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Gills Onions are using company byproducts to create energy. In doing so, they are using their own company resources to control spending and at the same time helping the environment by reducing emissions. Food companies are saving money in two ways: First, the obvious reduced costs of their energy bills. Second, they avoid costly disposal fees. Many food companies pay thousands of dollars for other companies to get rid of their waste. Now, more producers are putting their waste to better use.

Although the initial investment in the technology may be great, the rewards can also be great. Lately, there are also government incentives to help with the upfront investment cost. Last year, the Los Angeles Times introduced its readers to Steve Gill who uses onion juice to create electricity:

That’s slicing $700,000 annually off the electric bill at his 14-acre plant in Oxnard. He’s also saving $400,000 a year on disposal costs. And he has secured more than $3 million in government and power company incentives to do it. Gill figures the $9.5-million system will pay for itself in less than six years while eliminating up to 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions a year.

Gill converts methane from fermented onion juice into energy burned into two on-site fuel cells. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company employs similar technology which uses methane generated by the brewery’s wastewater treatment plant to power fuel cells that in turn power the brewery. Sierra Nevada also uses CO2 capture systems, trapping the gases and re-using them to carbonate their beer. Lastly, Lindt is using left over cocoa shells from their chocolate manufacturing to create electricity and reduce their coal dependency. What makes these cost-saving mechanisms so wonderful is that they save not only money, but also our environment.

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