A Higher Yield

Yield Energy, with offices in Toronto and North Bend, Wash., specializes in design, construction, commissioning and operation of renewable energy biogas facilities in North America based on anaerobic digestion (AD) of food waste and organics. The technology also can be integrated into existing AD sites or standalone organic transfer stations, and Yield offers ongoing digester monitoring through its Dr. Digester™ service.

Yield has secured the North American rights to a proprietary AD solution (www.fitec.com) that can process food and organic waste streams with higher levels of physical impurities than other solutions, according to the company. Other biogas technologies rely on clean organic inputs, thus restricting available inputs and associated tipping fees. Contaminants (glass, bones, metal and plastic) need to be removed prior to and during the AD process to produce the highest yield of biogas and cleanest end product. Yield achieves this by being able to process more contaminated feedstocks, allowing for greater feedstock flexibility and higher revenue, the company says. Yield has 12 facilities in operation and three being commissioned, with capacities ranging from 4,000 to 75,000 tons per year.

Q: What new projects have you been focusing on this year?

A: Municipalities and jurisdictions that have developed separate collection of food waste streams and require processing capacity.

Q: What makes you different from your competitors?

A: No single piece of equipment can remove all contaminants from any given waste stream. Contaminated waste streams affect the operational efficiency and the profitability of AD plants. In order to maximize operational efficiency and profitability, Yield has developed a three-stage contaminant removal system, which includes:

1. Shredding and pressing to remove 95 percent of contaminants;
2. Heating and pressing to remove 50 percent of remaining contaminants;
3. In-tank floor scraping and skimming to remove remaining contaminants.

Q: Where do you see your company five years from now?

A: As a major developer and operator of urban-based renewable energy sites across North America.