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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded Food Lifeline of Seattle—a non-profit organization providing food to more than 350 food banks across western Washington—approximately $200,000 to assist in the development of a community-owned anaerobic digester (AD) in the South Park neighborhood of Seattle.
Food Lifeline will partner with Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association, Black Star Farmers and Sustainable Seattle to develop new AD capacity for the South City Biodigester Collaboration project. The project is designed to demonstrate the potential for a larger-scale biofuel system and serve as an example of a closed-loop “circular economy.”
It is also intended to help provide Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), as well as low-income communities, autonomy over their waste-to-energy cycle and the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The demonstration project will measure specific AD deliverables, including pounds of waste diverted from landfills and large composting facilities, gallons of digestate used by Black Star Farmers in their local farms, the amount of community participation and youth involvement, and the number of education and engagement events held.
Activities to be conducted by project partners include:
- Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association: provide technical expertise, youth and community network engagement, workshops and community education events, and up to 200 hours of curriculum.
- Black Star Farmers: provide technical expertise, a Black and Indigenous farmer network, use and demonstration of co-products, identification of other BIPOC farms in need of excess co-product, as well as up to 200 hours of curriculum.
- Sustainable Seattle: oversee up to 100 hours of relationship and project management support, the promotion of classes and the distribution of project information to their network.
The goal of the EPA grant is to help reduce food loss and waste and to divert food waste from landfills and incinerators by expanding anaerobic digester capacity. The grant is one of 11 projects selected for funding in 2022, which include feasibility studies, modeling efforts, demonstration projects, as well as technical assistance and training.
“Projects like this one underscore the benefits of a collaborative, community-centered approach,” says Casey Sixkiller, regional administrator of EPA’s Region 10 office in Seattle. “The EPA is excited to support this anaerobic digestion project and other efforts in the Duwamish Valley that bring people together to fight climate change, protect public health and empower communities.”
The South City Biodigester Collaboration project will be an initial exhibition of a new technology process for the South Park community, leveraging breakthrough technology that involves the AD process coupled with very low energy inputs making it more accessible for small-scale businesses and organizations.
The project will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of inputs and output potentials for scalability in small business and community use, leverage its findings and impact to assess the technical feasibility and cost-effectiveness of a larger-scale biofuel system in the South Park community, and develop a local, community-based, BIPOC led farm-to-table-back-to-farm lifecycle.