Fortistar and Paloma Dairy begin construction on RNG facility that will produce 1.6M GGE of fuel annually
01 September 2020
Fortistar and Paloma Dairy have begun construction on a dairy digester renewable natural gas (RNG) facility, the Sunoma Renewable Biofuel Project. The new facility will produce 1.6 million gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE) of vehicle fuel annually for the Class 8 trucking sector—enough fuel to move 10 million miles of freight.
In addition to the significant community environmental benefits and cost savings for the fleets that use the fuel, the project will boost the local economy with 50 construction jobs and six permanent positions in Gila Bend, Arizona.
This project continues a renewable fuels growth strategy at Fortistar designed to help businesses and public agencies reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with a solution that also saves them money. TruStar Energy, a Fortistar portfolio company and leading developer of natural gas fueling stations, will market and deliver the RNG fuel.
Paloma Dairy is owned by the Van Hofwegen family, a fourth-generation dairy farm family in Gila Bend, AZ. The farm relies on the latest radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology that helps to provide its distinctive black and white Holstein cows with individualized care and provisions. Paloma Dairy keeps track of the complete health record of each cow via its signature RFID technology, which also allows employees to check on the health of each cow daily. In addition to the care of more than 10,000 animals, the farm produces cow feed via alfalfa, corn silage, wheat and barley across 7,000 acres of farmland.
Montrose Water and Sustainability Services, a division of Montrose Environmental Group, completed design and engineering for the project as well as equipment procurement. Montrose’s subject matter experts will provide construction oversight, along with startup and commissioning support for the project. Industrial Services Company (ISC) will lead the building of the system.
The project will be interconnected with Southwest Gas Company, which will also purchase the gas. The Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits will be sold to Chevron under a long-term agreement. Initial project development was performed by Black Bear Environmental Assets Advisors. Financing was provided by Live Oak Bank.
The Sunoma Renewable Biofuels Project is the third of 12 new Fortistar RNG projects totaling nearly $500 million in capital that Fortistar expects to begin over the next year. These new projects will help produce 120 million GGE of RNG over the next three years and reduce US transportation emissions by 2 million metric tons of CO2 annually—the equivalent of taking approximately 424,628 passenger cars off the road.
move 10 million miles of freight....
Carbon neutral and renewable.
Posted by: SJC | 01 September 2020 at 02:16 PM
You ignore that nitrate fertilizers generate N2O, which is a strong and persistent GHG.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 05 September 2020 at 03:24 AM