Tour
Organic Materials to Energy Demonstration Project Tour
Tuesday, December 10, 2019 from 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Goleta Sanitary District Wastewater Treatment Plant
1 William Moffet Place, Goleta CA
Registration is still open. There is no cost for A&WMA members and nonmembers pay $10. Please RSVP to awmacic@gmail.com by 5 pm Monday, December 9, 2019.
Attendees will take a walking tour of this pilot project at the Goleta Sanitary District wastewater treatment plant to see how the organics are separated and processed into renewable energy.
The Issue
Organic waste, including food, yard waste, lumber and paper, represent two-thirds of solid waste disposed at landfills in California. Food waste alone accounts for approximately 18% of total landfill disposal with almost 6 million tons annually statewide. The anaerobic degradation of organic matter in landfills produces harmful landfill gas (LFG) emissions. The main component of LFG is methane, a Short-Lived Climate Pollutant (SLCP). Cutting emissions of SLCPs can immediately reduce the impact of climate change.
The State of California recently enacted new legislation to increase organic waste recycling in order to support its greenhouse gas reduction goals and waste reduction goals. AB 1826 (2014) requires businesses to recycle their organic waste depending on the amount of waste they generate per week. SB 1383 (2016) establishes targets to reduce statewide disposal of organic waste by 50% below 2014 levels by 2020 and 75% by 2025.
These legislative initiatives will require the separation, collection, and processing of organics (primarily food waste) from commercial, institutional, and residential sources. The goal of this project is to demonstrate that it is possible to divert organics from landfills economically.
Project Innovation & Advantages
The project includes the construction of two (2) mobile and modular skids:
(1) Smicon Unit – Pre- and post-consumer organic waste depackaging: Smicon is a proven European technology for the pre-processing of source-separated organics into a high-quality feedstock for anaerobic digestion.
(2) Lystek Unit – Thermal hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion: Lystek is a US-based patented technology which uses thermal hydrolysis to transform organic material into a high-value end-product with multiple uses.
When combined into a single process train, the technologies can work together to improve collected organic material processing, enhance digester performance to increase biogas generation, demonstrate energy production from this biogas, and produce a high-nutrient biofertilizer for the agriculture industry.
The project will initially process biosolids from Goleta Sanitary District (GSD) and food waste from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), with the intention of obtaining additional volumes for pilot testing.
Requirements:
Hard-sole shoes, long pants and sleeves. Weather-appropriate outer-ware for the day (i.e., jackets, sweaters, knit-caps, etc.) depending on temperature and climate conditions. Clear safety glasses will be provided. Photography is allowed. Hard hats not required. No free samples.
Attend the Chanel Islands Chapter Dinner Meeting
"Local GHG Mitigation Strategies and the APCD's Role" by Molly Pearson, Planning Division Manager, Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District
Tuesday, December 10, 6:00 pm
Creekside Restaurant
4444 Hollister Avenue, Santa Barbara, CA 93110
$30 A&WMA Members; $38 Nonmembers; $20 Students
Please RSVP to awmacic@gmail.com by 5 pm Friday, December 6.