The Plant Breaks Ground On A Sustainable Biogas System

By Chuck Sudo in News on Nov 12, 2012 10:00PM

Breaking ground on the new anaerobic digestion system are Chicago Community Loan Fund senior loan officer Mark Fick; The Plant president John Edel; Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd); City of Chicago Chief Sustainability Officer Karen Weigert; and Eisenmann Corporation president Mark West. (Chicagoist/Chuck Sudo)

John Edel, president of The Plant in Back of the Yards, took an important step forward Friday in his efforts to move Chicago’s first vertical farm completely off the grid and into a completely sustainable project by breaking ground on a renewable biogas system.

Once online, the anaerobic digester designed by the Eisenmann Corporation will be able to divert 5,000 tons of organic waste from landfills annually to produce a methane-based biogas. This biogas will be fed to a jet turbine generator that will produce electricity and heat for 93,500 square-foot space and the businesses it houses, with no additional use of fossil fuels.

“That energy will be used in energy intensive activities, like brewing beer, lighting the farm spaces—we’ll be using a great deal of artificial lighting in our farming spaces,” Edel remarked during the dedication ceremony. “Using renewable energy will hopefully change how food is produced everywhere. It will bring renewable energy into our jobs, our communities, and into how we produce food.”

John Edel speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Plant's new biogas system. (Chicagoist/Chuck Sudo)

In anaerobic digestion, microorganisms are used to break down biodegradable material when oxygen is scarce. It’s primarily used in the treatment of wastewater and, in addition to producing biogas, the digesters produced by Eisenmann also produce a nutrient-rich digestate that can be used as fertilizer for the Plant’s farms. Eisenmann president Mark West said the system operates similar to the digestion system of a cow. “Think of an anaerobic digester as a steel stomach,” he said.

Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) praises the Plant as a model for local economic stimulus and sustainability in her remarks. (Chicagoist/Chuck Sudo)

The businesses and farms operating at the Plant should be able to provide the digester with plenty of the necessary waste material to create the gas for the turbine. Edel said the installation of the digester should take about eight months to complete, at which point they can focus on securing the turbine required to generate the electricity for the Plant.

Asked about the status of purchasing the jet turbine, Edel said he was starting over. "We fell afoul of an unscrupulous contractor," Edel said. "We hope to be able to have one in place soon.