Blue Line Biogenic CNG Facility

Eric Herbert (CEO of ZWE), Doug Button (President of South San Francisco

Scavengers/Blue Line Transfer), and Dirk Dudgeon (Senior Vice President of Business Development of ZWE) at CNG Facility Groundbreaking (left to right)

Summary: Located  in  South  San  Francisco,  the  Blue  Line  Biogenic  CNG  Facility  is  a  joint  effort  by  Blue  Line  Transfer  Inc.,  a  disposal  and  recycling  facility,  South  San  Francisco  Scavenger  Co.,  Inc.,  a  waste  management  company,  and  Zero  Waste  Energy,  LLC.  It  will  house  8  of  Zero  Waste  Energy’s  patented  SMARTFERM  dry,  thermophilic  anaerobic  digesters  —  specialized  tanks  that  use  bacteria  in  an  oxygen-­‐free,  125-­‐131°F  environment  to  convert  organic  waste  to  biogas,  a  mixture  of  primarily  methane  and  carbon  dioxide.  A  portion  of  this  biogas  will  be  used  to  heat  and  power  the  facility  itself,  and  the  remainder  will  be  refined  into  renewable  natural  gas  (RNG)  using  BioCNG,  LLC’s  proprietary  biogas  upgrading  technology,  which  removes  the  carbon  dioxide,  water,  and  other  impurities  leaving  a  97%  pure  stream  of  methane.  Once  compressed,  this  renewable  form  of  natural  gas  will  fuel  10-­‐12  of  Blue  Line  Transfer’s  refuse  collection  natural  gas  (CNG)  vehicles,  displacing  120,000  gallons  of  diesel  annually.  Each  of  the  refuse  collection  vehicles  is  able  to  collect  enough  organic  waste  in  one  route  to  fuel  it  for  an  entire  day,  creating  a  closed  loop  system.   Construction  on  the  facility  began  in  October  2013  and  was  completed  in  spring  2015.  The  plant  has  the  capacity  to  process  11,200  tons  of  food  and  other  organic  waste  annually,  diverting  95%  of  what  would  otherwise  end  up  in  landfills  and  generating  5,000  tons  of  organically-­‐certified  compost  from  digestate  —  the  residual  material  from  the  digestion  process.  As  a  near-­‐carbon-­‐neutral  —  or  even  carbon  negative  —  process,  the  conversion  of  food  scraps  and  other  organic  waste  to  renewable  compressed  natural  gas  (R-­‐CNG)  via  anaerobic  digestion  will  help  California  meet  the  goals  of  Assembly  Bill  32  (AB  32),  under  which  the  state’s  Air  Resources  Board  requires  that  by  2020,  greenhouse  gas  emission  levels  either  match  or  be  lower  than  those  from  1990.     Financing: The  project  was  awarded  a  $2.6  million  grant  through  the  California  Energy  Commission’s  (CEC)  Alternative  and  Renewable  Fuel  and  Vehicle  Technology  Program.  Funded  by  surcharges  on  vehicle  and  boating  registrations,  and  smog  check  and  license  plate  fees,  the  program  allocates  approximately  $100  million  a  year  towards  the  development  and  deployment  of  low-­‐carbon  alternative  fuels  and  advanced  vehicle  technologies.  From  this  allocation,  $20  million  is  for  the                        production  of  alternative  fuels  such  as  RNG.  

Location: 500 East Jamie Court

South San Francisco, CA 94080

Partners: Blue Line Transfer Inc.

South San Francisco Scavenger Co., Inc.

Contact: Dirk Dudgeon SVP, Business Development Zero Waste Energy, LLC (925) 297-0603 Dirk@zwenergy.com Feedstock: Food scraps and other organic waste

Vehicles Fueled: 10-12 refuse vehicles

Maximum Annual Fuel Production: 120,000 diesel gallon equivalents Received Funding: Yes

Technology Providers: Zero Waste Energy, LLC BioCNG, LLC