Eco Factor: Onion waste transformed into electricity, heat and cattle feed.
Gills Onions, the nation’s largest processor of fresh onions, has built an anaerobic digester system at its Oxnard, California facility, which will help the company convert the hundreds of thousands of pounds of onion waste into electricity to power the plant.
Presently the company produces over 300,000 pounds of onion waste each day, which is utilized by the system to generate electricity, enough to power 460 homes. The electricity generated is stored in two 300KW fuel cells, which will also offset 30,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year.
The system will also help save the company $700,000 in electricity costs each year. Since the company is generating electricity for itself on site, it is also eligible to receive $2.7 million from Southern California Gas Company.
Via: Treehugger
