The webinar will be presented on Wednesday October 26 and will examine technical, environmental and financial factors to consider when installing an anaerobic digester on a livestock operation and specifically the use of digesters with dry manure and the unique environmental issues and climatic conditions of the Southwest.

The virtual Field Day is free of charge and targeted to dairy and beef producers in New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Representatives of environmental and agricultural organizations working with livestock producers, as well as staff from state and federal agencies, are also encouraged to participate.

The webinar’s origination site will be the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, Las Cruces, N.M., where anyone interested in the area is invited to attend live. Five viewing sites have been set up across the Southwest at Lamar Community College, Lamar, Colo.; Otero County Extension Office, Rocky Ford, Colo.; Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus, Mesa, Ariz.; the U.S. EPA Region 9 Office, San Francisco, Calif.; and the Texas A&M’s AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Amarillo, Texas. Additional sites may be added.

Farm Foundation, NFP is organizing this webinar in collaboration with USDA Rural Development, USDA’s Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. There is no charge to participate in this webinar, but registration is required by going to the FarmFoundation.org website. This is the second Renewable Energy Education Field Day presented by Farm Foundation, NFP and USDA agencies. Biomass was the subject of the first Field Day in November 2010.

“The momentum in the renewable chemicals and materials space inspired us to run the first ‘hottest’ companies competition in Biofuels Digest history,” said Biofuels Digest founder and editor Jim Lane. “The Biofuels Digest community recognized the slew of meaningful technology, production and commercialization milestones Genomatica has achieved over the past year, and the solid leadership they provide for the industry.”

So what was it about Genomatica that helped them rise to the top spot? In 2011, they had already reached demonstration-scale production in partnership with Tate & Lyle. In addition, the company has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding for sustainable chemicals in Asia with Mitsubishi Chemical. As if that isn’t enough, they have also established a partnership with Gruppo M&G for biomass-to-chemicals in Europe and signed a joint development agreement with Waste Management to convert syngas to high-value chemicals.

“The readers and panelists of Biofuels Digest represent the forefront of our industry, so we are gratified by their recognition,” said Genomatica CEO Christophe Schilling. “The hard work, passion and perseverance of every employee and partner got us to this place, so it’s nice to take a moment and feel good about what we have accomplished so far this year.”

“This is a major milestone for our program because it means we have awarded all $175 million from the first two years of the AB 118 program, plus another $14 million from the 2010-11 funding cycle,” said Energy Commission Vice Chair James Boyd. “We have awarded more than 82 grants, public agency agreements and program support contracts totaling $189.4 million in AB 118 funding, leveraging more than $425 million in private match funding and creating or retaining about 5,600 jobs.”

The CEC estimates that the awards will infuse more than $44.5 million into the state’s biofuels industry and they estimate that the monies will create or retain 616 construction, engineering and management jobs over the next three years. The projects range from reducing petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions to providing jobs through the advancement of biofuel technology to the installation of alternative fuel infrastructure aimed at fleets.

Awardees include:

• Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District ($3,000,000 – Match Share $2,663,175) – AC Transit will construct a new hydrogen bus fueling station in Oakland.
• Biostar Systems ($3,372,314 – Match Share $3,372,314)  – BioStar Systems is partnering with Sonoma County Water Agency and Sonoma County Transit to produce 148,000 cubic feet per day of pipeline quality biomethane from dairy waste and food processor waste to support the Sonoma County Transit natural gas fleet.
• South Coast Air Quality Management District ($2,600,000 – Match share $6,000,000) – The South Coast Air Quality Management District and their numerous partners will install and upgrade 11 compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling stations throughout Southern California.
• USA Waste of California ($489,040 – Match Share $1,051,021)  – USA Waste will upgrade a liquefied natural gas (LNG) station in the City of Corona (Riverside County) to add storage tanks, vaporizers and dispensers that will also add compressed natural gas (CNG) to their current LNG dispensing capabilities.
• CR&R, Inc. ($4,520,501 – Match Share $18,166,460)  – CR&R estimates that this project planned for the City of Perris in Riverside County will produce 120,000 million BTUs of pipeline quality biomethane from nonrecyclable municipal waste using a two-stage anaerobic digestion process.
• Pixley Biogas ($4,672,798 – Match Share $4,910,925)  – Pixley Biogas intends to build an anaerobic digestion facility in the community of Pixley (Tulare County) that will process more than 36 million gallons of manure from three nearby dairies and produce biogas to be used at the adjacent Calgren Renewable Fuels ethanol biorefinery.
• High Mountain Fuels ($11,020,419 – Match share $11,020,419) – High Mountain Fuels intends to convert renewable landfill biomethane to liquefied natural gas for use as transportation fuel at the Simi Valley landfill facility in Ventura County.

“This biorefinery is an excellent example of how the U.S. can ensure global leadership in advanced manufacturing: we have developed cutting edge technology which combine the fields of biology, chemistry, and industrial manufacturing to produce petroleum replacing chemicals,” said Blue Marble CEO Kelly Ogilvie. “These products will reinvigorate the meaning of Made in America: more lean, more clean and sourced from our abundant renewable natural resources.”

Last week, President Obama announced intentions to invest $500 million in U.S.-based advanced manufacturing technologies via an Advanced Manufacturing Program. The Blue Marble co-founders, Ogilvie and James Stephens, served on the council that worked with the president in forming the program.

The system uses a range of plant feedstocks to produce the biochemicals. The facility uses a photo-bioreactor containing algae to purify wastewater and waste gas from the fermentation system. In addition, the solid waste generated during the production process is pelletized for use in wood-burning furnaces and stoves. In the future, the company intends to power its facility with the waste gas and pellets created during the process in onsite gasifiers.

“Natural systems are the inspiration for our processes. Just as in nature, we see waste as nutritional; in this case, wastewater, waste gas and waste solids are industrial nutrients for both our system and the surrounding economy,” added Stephens. “We believe this principal is key to reducing not only environmental impact but also operational cost.”

“With the benefit of Achor’s technology and our project design, construction and operating skills, we are well placed to develop our pipeline of new large-scale AD plants, serving our customers in livestock farming and food processing,” said Rupert Fraser, Chief Executive Officer of HRE. “Achor’s technology will enable us to build larger scale anaerobic digestion plants with more competitive economics, so that we can produce truly renewable energy while removing waste problems for farmers and food companies.”

The enzymes increase biogas production from digestible materials including animal and food wastes. The two companies are currently in the process of testing the enzyme at HB Energy’s facility in Wisconsin and preliminary indications are that the improvements are significant. HB Energy uses the ag waste to produce energy including biogas or electricity. To date, they have more than 15 large scale development projects in the works ranging from 3 MW to 20 MW.

Chris Barry, cofounder of Achor and originator of the achorlytic approach to accelerating and enhancing anaerobic digestion, added “Achor Anaerobic is delighted to be working in partnership with HB Energy. The business, engineering and planning base provided by HB Energy provides the perfect platform for the exploitation and expansion of our technology. We aim to make HB Energy the most advanced and profitable AD company in the US and beyond through enabling them to get the very best from the feedstocks available. We will work with them on innovative design and development that will be ‘game-changing’ in the field of anaerobic digestion and bioenergy.”

Moderator Tom Bryan, Vice President of BBI International, asked the panel was what the top priorities for their organizations are this year.

“Just getting parity for algae,” said Algal Biomass Organization Executive Director Mary Rosenthal. She says they are also working on educating lawmakers about algae and keeping the funding they currently have for development from departments of energy, agriculture and defense.

Charlie Niebling with the Biomass Thermal Energy Council said they would like to see thermal incorporated into a true federal Clean Energy Standard. “We still face real challenges in just making sure people understand the role that thermal plays in addressing energy challenges in our country,” he said.

Biomass Power Association CEO Robert Cleaves says they support the development of a federal Clean Energy Standard as well and they want to retain the USDA Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). “BCAP for existing facilities may be the only game in town as a bridge to somewhere,” he said.

Inclusion and parity are also important for biogas, as well as working on a fundamental change in waste management. “Discontinuing policies that simply take all this organic matter, put it in a hole in the ground and create environmental issues. Instead we need to create policies to divert that to higher, better and multiple uses.” said Norma McDonald of the American Biogas Council.

For members of the Renewable Fuels Association, president Bob Dinneen says what is most important is education and certainty. “We’re looking at a situation where our tax incentive expires the end of this year,” Dinneen said. “What we’re trying to do is get to some reform of the existing incentive that reflects the fact that the industry has indeed grown, that will allow the industry to continue to grow and evolve, but do so in response to fiscal realities in Washington DC now.”

“The biodiesel industry is an example of what can happen when you have total policy failures in Washington DC,” said Joe Jobe with the National Biodiesel Board, referring to the non-renewal of the biodiesel tax for a year that caused many plants to shut down. Jobe says the industry is going strong again and plants are re-opening but they would like to see the tax credit extended again at the end of this year. “We just need a little more time to get a little more mature.”

Finally, Advanced Biofuels Association president Michael McAdams stressed the importance of keeping the Renewable Fuels Standard in place. “The RFS2 is the single most important public policy in the United States for first, second and third generations biofuels,” he said.

Listen the panel talk about priorities here: Biomass Conference Panel

Also on the list at number 18 was Zotos, a hair care brand. According to the EPA’s site, nearly 60 percent of the company’s electricity is generated from on-site wind energy. The reason Zotos stands out is while most companies purchase renewable power from electricity companies, they actually generated their power from wind turbines located right on their campus. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the Zotos Wind Project is considered one of the top on-site wind projects currently being undertaken by a manufacturing company in the United States.

“It was a  sizable investment to purchase the wind turbines, but it was a small price to pay when compared to the major benefits it creates for the community of Geneva, NY, and our environment,” says Anthony Perdigao, Zotos Chief Sustainability Officer.

With approximately 6.5 million kWh of electricity produced annually, the Zotos wind turbines will provide more than 50 percent of organization’s energy requirements and are expected to reduce overall CO2 emissions by 50 percent in 2011. Zotos’ energy goal is to utilize 100 percent renewable energy by 2012.

District leaders kicked off a District Green Power Challenge today during the District’s EPA Green Power Recognition Ceremony that was held at Phelps Career High School in northeast DC to encourage more residents and businesses to switch to green power. The first goal of the challenge is to increase citywide green power purchases by 33 percent by August 31 of this year in hopes of keeping their #1 ranking. This increase would also mean that the city’s electricity users are purchasing 10 percent from green power or 1 Billion kWh each year.

“This is a huge honor for Washington, D.C. and we are proud to be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” said Mayor Vincent Gray. “The purchase of green power by our citizens and businesses is cleaning our air and supporting growth of the clean energy economy. When we clean the air, we improve the health of our residents, and particularly our children. We are sending a message to other communities across the country that supporting clean power is a sound business decision and the right thing to do. I’m proud that the District of Columbia government is leading the way, purchasing 50 percent of our electricity through the Washington Gas Energy Services, Inc. wind power program.”

There are currently 36 Green Power Communities across the country. To be given the designation, a city, town or village must have government, business and residents that commit to purchasing green power in amounts that meet or exceed EPA’s Green Power Community purchase requirements. Qualifying energy sources include wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact hydro-electric power.

“The District of Columbia is setting an excellent example for the nation by harnessing clean energy,” said Elizabeth Craig, Acting Director of EPA’s Office of Atmospheric Programs. “We hope the city will continue to increase its use of green power and that other communities will follow suit.”

“Farming systems that combine food and energy crops present numerous benefits to poor rural communities,” said Alexander Müller, FAO Assistant Director-General for Natural Resources. “For example, poor farmers can use leftovers from rice crops to produce bioenergy, or in an agroforestry system can use debris of trees used to grow crops like fruits, coconuts or coffee beans for cooking.”

Müller noted that other types of food and energy systems use byproducts from livestock or biogas production and with this type of integrated systems, farmers can save money – they don’t have to buy expensive fossil fuel or chemical fertilizers. Rather, than can use the slurry from biogas production, a more sustainable, less costly alternative.

“They can then use the savings to buy necessary inputs to increase agricultural productivity, such as seeds adapted to changing climatic conditions — an important factor given that a significant increase in food production in the next decades will have to be carried out under conditions of climate change. All this increases their resilience, hence their capacity to adapt to climate change,” said Müller.

IFES are also beneficial to women as they can eliminate the need to leave their crops to go in search of firewood. In addition, the report concludes that IFES farming can help to mitigate climate change, especially emissions stemming from land use change, because there is less chance land will need to be converted.

In conclusion, Olivier Dubois, an FAO energy expert said, “Promoting the advantages of IFES and improving the policy and institutional environment for such systems should become a priority. FAO is well placed to coordinate these efforts by providing knowledge and technical support for IFES implementation.”

This company press release says that, in partnership with Schmidt and Swedavia, Volvo will have two nine-liter engines running on the alternative fuels in the sweeper:

The state-owned company Swedavia aims to make all of its 14 airports in Sweden carbon-neutral in terms of upkeep and maintenance. Daily operations involve the deployment of an extensive fleet of machinery comprising Volvo products featuring customized equipment, including snow removal machines that keep the runways clear of snow.

The test vehicle’s cab unit is the front section of an A25E articulated hauler from Volvo Construction Equipment, equipped with a nine-liter diesel engine converted to gas. In the rear section a similar engine from Volvo Penta is used to power a roller brush and a snow-blower unit that expels the remaining snow at a speed of 130 m/s. While the Volvo Group already has trucks and buses that are powered by biogas, this is the first time that Volvo CE and Volvo Penta are showcasing a product equipped with biogas-powered engines.

If there’s any place that would know snow, it would be Sweden! I’m still trying to get some video or a picture of this snow sweeper in action. I’ll update this post when I find it.

This LFGTE facility is only the third private facility in Canada but it is the first in Southwestern Ontario. Waste Management has an initiative to power two million homes by 2020 with waste-based energy.

A little closer to home, Ameresco, Inc., along with San Antonio Water System (SAWS) hosted a grand opening of their new biogas facility located at the Dos Rios Water Recycling Center. According to Ameresco, this project is the first of its kind in the U.S. designed to capture biogas generated during the sewage treatment process and selling it through a commercial gas pipeline.

“SAWS is constantly improving its operations to become more sustainable, and this project is a sound investment for our environment and our community,” said Robert R. Puente, SAWS President/CEO. “By reusing biogas instead of burning it off, we are helping protect the city’s air quality and developing a renewable energy resource.”

During the sewage treatment process, biosolids generate methane gas. Rather than burn off the gas using flares, the company will now treat and transfer at least 900,000 cubic feet of gas to a nearby commercial gas pipeline. From there, Ameresco will sell the methane on the open market. In return, SAWS ratepayers will receive a royalty payment on the sale of the gas estimated yearly to be $200,000.

“At Ameresco, we are driven to help our customers find renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions to achieve their goals,” said Michael T. Bakas, Ameresco’s senior vice president of renewable energy. “Whether those goals are a sustainable environment, reducing costs or reusing a resource, our energy engineers, project managers and plant specialists can make these goals a reality. Ameresco is proud to be a part of this team and groundbreaking project.”

Presentations will focus on how to improve an ethanol plant’s bottom line with the newest technologies available. For example, presenters will discuss turning thin stillage into biogas to displace natural gas, advanced dryer technologies and fractionation technologies. Other topics will include some of the latest advances in advanced biofuels and cellulosic ethanol research.

Speakers include Steve Shivvers, Tri-Phase; John McDowell, EISENMANN; Doug Rivers, ICM; Dr. Henry Daniell, University of Central Florida; a panel on advanced biofuels hosted by John Caupert with the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center; and Ron Lamberty with ACE will give an update on the State of the Industry as we head into the end of the year; among others. The keynote speech “How the Ethanol Industry Impacts the U.S. Economy,” will be given by John Urbanchuck, Technical Director for Entrix Inc.

Registration is still open. Click here to learn more about the workshop and to register.

Vilsack and Strickland took part in a roundtable discussion with representatives from POET, the Ohio Corn Growers Association, Ohio Ethanol Producers Association and the Ohio Department of Agriculture as well as the federal Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service.

During the visit, Vilsack voiced support for increasing the ethanol blend level to 15 percent. “We are working at USDA to develop a roadmap for how to build that [ethanol] nationwide industry,” he said. “We understand it starts with allowing the capacity we have today to maximize its input. That means increasing the blend rate to 15 percent. I have been advocating for that, will continue to advocate for that, and I believe it will happen. Obviously I wish it had had happened now, but I believe it will happen sometime this fall.” Vilsack also stressed the need for increasing blender pumps and getting more flex fuel vehicles on the road.

Yesterday, Vilsack toured Quasar Energy Group in Wooster, Ohio to observe new technologies being utilized to generate larger supplies of biogas derived from cellulosic biomass. USDA, along with the State of Ohio, provided funding to support the development of the new facility.

The funding was used to install an anaerobic digester that processes 25,000 wet tons per year of organic biomass including food wastes from local food producers, crop residuals, grass and manure from livestock operations of the Ohio State University-Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI). Based on its electric generation capacity, this bio-digester can supply roughly one-third of the electricity needs of the Ohio Agricultural Research & Development Center (OARDC) campus.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture have a new interagency agreement that will promote the biogas as a renewable energy source, while cutting those gas emissions from livestock operations. This EPA press release says the agreement is an expansion of the AgStar program:

“We want to seize every opportunity to confront climate change and move into the clean economy of the future. This is a smart way to transform what would be a harmful greenhouse pollutant into a source of renewable energy — and make a profit for American farmers,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “We have the technology and the expertise, all we need now is to act. The AgStar program brings real benefits to our air and creates new opportunities for our farming community.”

“The farms and ranches that dot our countryside can contribute greatly to addressing America’s long-term energy challenges and the partnership we are announcing today will not only help generate renewable energy, but provide new income opportunities for farmers and ranchers,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The EPA and USDA believe the $3.9 million their collaboration will provide over the next five years will help farms overcome obstacles preventing them from recovering and using biogas. Right now, there are about 150 on-farm manure digesters across the country that turn methane into biogas. Estimates are that 8,000 farms could put in digesters and recover the equivalent of the greenhouse gases of 6.5 million passenger vehicles a year while producing 1,500 megawatts of energy.

Mauricio Vargas, CEO of Greenhouse Gas Services said of the transaction, “Adding the StormFisher team and its pipeline of shovel-ready biogas projects expands Greenhouse Gas Services’ business line and complements our carbon platform. As carbon and renewable energy policies continue to evolve, we see tremendous opportunity and growth for us in North America.”

The company anticipates breaking ground this year on its first biogas project, a 2.8-megawatt facility in London, Ontario that will convert more than 100,000 tonnes of organic materials from agri-food producers into renewable energy through anaerobic digestion. The electricity produced will be sold to the Ontario Power Authority.

“This deal brings together StormFisher’s project development expertise and pipeline of new opportunities with the carbon credit specialization of Greenhouse Gas Services,” said Bas van Berkel, President of StormFisher. “It represents the combination of two very entrepreneurial firms with the backing of multi-billion dollar companies.”

In addition to the project in Ontario, the company is currently developing other biogas facilities in Wisconsin and California, which are expected to be operational by the end of 2011.

The largest food and yard waste composting facility in North America, located in Richmond, British Columbia, is owned and operated by Harvest Power. In addition to building and operating large-scale organics recycling facilities, the company is also developing several high-solids aerobic and anaerobic digestion and composting technologies which will accelerate the decomposition of organic materials to produce renewable energy or biogas. Once the biogas is formed, it can be converted into electricity, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and into high quality, nutrient-rich compost products.

In a release today, Tim Cesarek, Managing Director of Organic Growth at Waste Management said, “We want to extract more value from the materials we manage than anyone else in our industry through new and emerging processing and conversion technologies. Combining Waste Management’s industry leadership and expertise in the collection and management of a wide range of segmented waste streams with Harvest’s leading technologies and industry knowledge will be key to developing new, higher value added end markets for organic materials and accelerating the growth of organics recycling across North America.”

North America generates over 180 million tons of organic waste each year and is a valuable resource for the production of renewable energy.

“Through partnerships with leaders like Waste Management, and by designing, building, owning and operating our own facilities, we will be turning more organic waste into renewable energy and high quality compost,” added Paul Sellew, Co-Founder and CEO of Harvest Power. “Our goal is to harvest the power in organic materials to create more sustainable communities, and we look forward to expanding our business with our new partner.”

At the climate summit in Copenhagen, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced an agreement with U.S. dairy producers to accelerate adoption of innovative manure to energy projects on American dairy farms.

“This historic agreement, the first of its kind, will help us achieve the ambitious goal of drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions while benefiting dairy farmers,” Vilsack said from Copenhagen. “Use of manure to electricity technology is a win for everyone because it provides an untapped source of income for famers, provides a source of renewable electricity, reduces our dependence on foreign fossil fuels, and provides a wealth of additional environmental benefits.”

Under the agreement, USDA intends to increase the number of anaerobic digesters supported by USDA programs. Beyond promoting the digesters, the agreement will encourage research, and development of new technologies to help dairies reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Anaerobic digester technology is a proven method of converting waste products, such as manure, into electricity. The technology utilizes generators that are fueled by methane captured from the animal manure. Currently, only about 2 percent of U.S. dairies that are candidates for a profitable digester are utilizing the technology. Dairy operations with anaerobic digesters routinely generate enough electricity to power 200 homes.

Advanced Refining Concepts, LLC is building a 100,000-gallon-a-day plant 10 miles east of Reno in Northern Nevada that will use a proprietary pollution-free process, called ClearRefining™, that liquefies natural gas and other biogases into a product they call GDiesel™, comparable to No. 1 diesel fuel:

“Beginning construction of this facility is an important milestone for ARC, advancing our goal of making America energy independent by reducing this country’s need for foreign crude oil imports,” said Peter Gunnerman, co-founder of Advanced Refining Concepts. “We expect the GDiesel™ produced at our Peru Heights facility initially will be used for large fleet operators, power producers or as blend stock.”

The facility, which will employ 25 full-time workers, will consist of 10 fully automated ClearRefining™ units, each capable of producing up to 10,000 gallons of GDiesel™ per day. “The location we’ve selected just outside of Reno is ideal for this venture,” said Gunnerman. “The facility has convenient access to natural gas, existing fuel lines and is strategically located near rail and truck lines.”

The plant is scheduled for completion by January 2010.

According to a press release, Carbon Sciences, developer of a breakthrough technology to recycle carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into gasoline and other portable fuels, today announced the filing of a patent application for a highly efficient nano-scale CO2 to fuel reactor, which is the most critical part of the company’s CO2-to-Fuel technology.

The company previously announced several important breakthroughs for the commercial viability of its proprietary CO2-to-Fuel technology including: (1) a low energy enzyme based biocatalytic process, and (2) a proprietary enzyme encapsulation technology that increases the life of key enzymes to reduce the cost of fuel production. Carbon Sciences has now successfully incorporated all of these discrete innovations into a self-contained nano-scale CO2-to-Fuel reactor optimized for the efficient transformation of CO2 and H20 molecules into hydrocarbon molecules that are identical to today’s transportation fuels.

Carbon Sciences is calling these nano-scale reactors “Smart Particles™” which are designed to “absorb CO2 molecules and excrete fuel molecules.”

Topics include emerging value chains, renewable hydrocarbons, electrical generation from biomass, MSW-to-Energy, dedicated energy crops, policy updates, and more.

Plenary speakers include:

• *Doug Cameron Managing Director & Chief Science Advisor, Piper Jaffray & Co.
• *Clark Brinkley Managing Director, International Forestry Investment Advisors
• *Don Roberts Managing Director, CIBC World Markets
• *Andrew Lear Manager of Partnerships, Planning & Analysis, Catchlight Energy LLC

Registration is $695 if you sign up by October 9, 2009. Click here to learn more information about the conference.

This story in the St. Louis Business Journal says the Natural Resources Defense Council report points out that Missourians spend more than $18 billion a year on energy for their homes, vehicles and businesses:

That comes to $3,000 in energy costs for each person in Missouri, and most of those dollars leave the state because 84 percent of Missouri’s electricity is generated using coal, almost all of which is shipped in from Wyoming, according to the report.

“Within Missouri’s borders are vast resources of wind, land and water — all the ingredients needed for Missouri to become a national leader in new energy development, creating tens of thousands of good jobs and substantial new sources of income for farmers,” said Martin Cohen, the energy policy analyst who authored the report.

You can read the entire report here.

Once the project becomes “official” several partners will work together to replicate the technology that has already been used successfully in Europe. The partners will include Zero Waste Energy Development Company, Harvest Power, GreenWaste Recovery and Zanker Road Resource Management. The project is waiting approval from several city organizations.

As landfills become full and some cities across the country are having difficulty getting rid of their waste, this technology would help reduce the amount of waste going into the landfills. Once the waste in converted to energy, it will be sold to the regional electrical utility power grid.

“This project not only demonstrates San Jose’s leadership in the production of renewable energy but will help us meet the economic development, zero waste and energy goals of our city’s Green Vision,” said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed.

The proposed facility could employ 30 to 40 during development and construction and is expected to create and retain 50 to 60 direct and supporting jobs when fully operational.