By DUANE M. ELLING
Transforming human, farm and forest waste materials into fuel for furnaces and engines may be nothing new in Sweden, but it has only recently gained attention in the U.S.
And the Mott Foundation’s hometown of Flint, Michigan, is playing a key role in the domestic development of this alternative energy.
The Center for Energy Excellence, located at
Kettering University – a Mott grantee in Flint – and other local partners have been working with
Swedish Biogas International (SBI) since September 2008 on the design and launch of a $7-million biogas processing facility in Genesee County. The facility, expected to be operational in early 2011, will transform solid materials captured by an adjacent waste water treatment facility into biogas, a low-cost, renewable energy frequently used for heating.
Biogas has been produced for years at facilities like the above in Linköping, Sweden. The alternative fuel is now being developed in the Mott Foundation’s hometown of Flint, Michigan. Photo from Swedish Biogas International. |
The project’s second phase, also to be spearheaded by Kettering, will focus on upgrading the biogas product into biomethane, which could be used to fuel the city’s mass transit and public utility vehicles.
Support for the project’s first phase includes a $4-million grant from the
Michigan Economic Development Corporation and $951,000 from the
U.S. Department of Energy. The balance is being funded by SBI, which is based in Linköping, Sweden, and the Swedish government.
Thomas Guise is CEO of SBI’s U.S. office, which is housed at Kettering. He notes that the Flint biogas project could spark local development of other alternative fuels, which would play a key role in supporting the community’s economic and environmental sustainability.
“The Flint biogas facility is the cornerstone of a broader approach to energy policy,” Guise said. “By becoming a leader in the development of alternative energy technologies, Flint can become a model ‘green’ city.”
Michael Wood agrees. A Flint native and former U.S. ambassador to Sweden, Wood was instrumental in working with state and Swedish officials to bring the biogas project to Genesee County.
“Flint is the first city in Michigan, and one of the first in the U.S., to adopt biogas technology,” he said. “As word spreads and other communities learn that they can both lower their carbon footprint and save real money, they will send experts to Flint to learn how to do it.”
ADDITIONAL RESOURCE
- Read about a collaborative that is working on issues of sustainability in Mott's home community.