Minnesota legislator requests funding for anaerobic digestor

Minnesota Rep. Athena Hollins has introduced a bill that seeks to fund an anaerobic digestor energy system through a one-time appropriation of $10 million that would unlock $30 million in federal tax credits and $40 million in private equity, AM 1100 The Flag reports.

The bill calls for Shakopee-based Dem-Con Cos. to construct the digestor in the city of Shakopee, adding a new energy source to the state’s power grid. An anaerobic digestor used diverted food and organic waste from a metropolitan county to create renewable natural gas and biochar, according to the bill.

RELATED: Transfer of knowledge | How anaerobic digesters are helping process organics while sustaining US farms

“You put food in and you get liquids, gases and solids out,” Dem-Con President Bill Keegan says. "These gases are renewable natural gas, the liquids get reincorporated back into he process and the solids get turned into biochar through a high-temperature process. The biochar can be turned into soil amendments, can be used for mediation projects and also for carbon sequestration.”

The digestor facility, once functioning, would produce about 1.7 million therms, or enough energy to power 4,500 homes. Read the full bill here.