Avolta, a renewable energy company focused on originating, developing, owning and operating renewable natural gas (RNG) projects, along with its regional development partner, Atlas Global Holdings, LLC, recently broke ground on a RNG project at the Butterfield Dairy in Buckeye, AZ – the first of several such new biogas projects planned in Arizona to be operated by Nacelle Solutions.

Dairy operations often result in the production of biogas – think cow manure. Utilizing anaerobic digesters, Avolta captures and processes biogas generated by the digesters for resale. As it relates to the Buckeye project, it is anticipated that RNG will be produced and contributed to the Southwest Gas Pipeline by the end of the year. A second related project in Maricopa with Milky Way Dairy will begin production of RNG early next year. Collectively, the two projects anticipate processing more than 110,000 tons of cow manure annually which is expected to result in the production of 675,000 MMBtu of RNG.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintains a Livestock Anaerobic Digester Database which provides key information on domestic livestock farms. As the push toward greater utilization of power from renewable sources continues, biogas projects, akin to Avolta’s Arizona projects are key components of developing diversified renewable energy resources.