The digester is part chemical processor, part power producer. The project is somewhat similar to manure digesters that process cow manure into energy at dairy farms across Wisconsin.īut the system opening Monday a block west of Potawatomi Bingo Casino is much larger and more complex, said Charlie Opferman, owner's representative at Greenfire Management Services, the tribal business serving as construction manager on the project. 'This merchant facility is going to try to capture as much of that liquid organic feedstock as possible and make green energy out of it, instead of it just becoming a problem in the waste stream.' 'Bug' nutrition There are costs and problems associated with all of those disposal methods,' said Jeff Crawford, attorney general for the Forest County Potawatomi Community. 'There's a lot of the feedstock that is available in any large metropolitan area that's currently being land-applied or being processed through the sewage utility districts. Meanwhile, pollution rules regulating what's going into rivers and lakes can make disposal alternatives costly and inhibit expansion for food producers. An entire industry has sprung out of converting grain, milk and meat into products of value.īut food production creates a mix of waste that's either sent down the drain to a wastewater treatment plant or spread on farm fields as fertilizer.

Wisconsin's roots in food and dairy run deep. The project is small compared with utility power plants or even large wind farms, but it accomplishes something important by producing energy from the waste left behind from food production. The digester will produce 2 megawatts of electricity - enough to supply about 1,500 homes - that will be sold to We Energies.īut the project is about more than producing power. The developer of the $20 million project: the Forest County Potawatomi.

The project, located in the Menomonee River Valley, just west of the Potawatomi Bingo Casino, will convert food wastes into renewable energy, with the power to be sold to We Energies. One of Wisconsin's signature industries - food and beverage processing - is getting a cutting-edge flavor in a new renewable energy project scheduled to start operating this week.

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