“Avolta is pleased to expand into Arizona with the new RNG upgrading facility at Butterfield Dairy. The Butterfield RNG Facility will positively impact the environment while simultaneously providing benefits to the de Jong family farming operation,” said Gov Siegel, co-founder of Avolta. “This will be the first in a series of projects in Arizona that uphold our commitment to supporting the dairy industry and providing economic opportunities to local communities all while reducing the impact on the environment.”
“Since our family began farming in 1620, we have continuously improved our operations and processes to remain competitive and be a good steward of the land. Most recently we designed Butterfield Dairy to be carbon neutral through managing our water to support crops and capture carbon dioxide,” said the family patriarch, Tommy de Jong Sr. “This RNG project with Atlas and Avolta is a next phase in this tradition of continuous improvement with many benefits for our farming operation and the environment.”
Dairy based biogas systems use anaerobic digestion to convert manure into biogas. The dairy manure streams are diverted and stored in digestors for a specified time to allow the bacteria to “digest” the manure. As the manure is digested, methane (CH4) is created. The methane gas is then processed (upgraded) to pipeline quality gas before being injected into the nearest gas pipeline. Biogas is currently being produced in all 50 states and the industry is primed for unprecedented growth. For farmers, the combined anaerobic digestors and RNG upgrading facilities provide optimized waste management solutions to the dairy operations, help create long-term financial stability through gas sales, and provide an organic cow bedding supply. Each RNG Facility built and put in operation creates local jobs, provides several benefits to the farming operation and provides a renewable, sustainable energy source.
Collectively, Butterfield and Milky Way dairies care for more than 50,000 cows and the projects will generate over 675,000 MMBtu of RNG annually which will ultimately be distributed as renewable transportation fuel. The Butterfield and Milky Way projects are scheduled to begin delivering gas into a Southwest Gas Pipeline at the end of the fourth quarter 2021 and first quarter 2022, respectively. Both facilities will be operated and maintained by Nacelle Solutions, a gas technology and service company with design and operational expertise in both the Oil & Gas and Biogas industries.
