State Representative Joey Andrews has joined a group of colleagues to sign a letter to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy urging it to reconsider a permitting change that would lead to the closure of Michigan’s only anaerobic digester, located in Fremont.
Andrews tells us the Fremont Digester keeps organic waste out of landfills and generates clean energy.
“They process things like agricultural waste, food waste, manure, that sort of stuff, and by capturing the methane, they convert it into natural gas for heating and electric use,” Andrews said. “Then on the other side, this particular digester also coverts solid waste byproduct into nitrogen and phosphorus rich material than can be used as fertilizer.”
Andrews says EGLE a couple of years ago changed permitting rules that would require the facility to meet clean water standards that it can’t meet. That would essentially force it to shut down.
“This methane digester handles about 40% of Michigan’s free market food waste and is a significant contributor of natural gas to power the surrounding community. It would be a pretty big loss to the state and to the region, particularly as we’re trying to address climate change, having facilities like this that extract methane and turn it into something less bad is pretty important.”
The issue was brought to the attention of Andrews due to his role as vice chair of the House Energy Committee. He says facilities like the Fremont Digester are a net positive as the state seeks to reduce its carbon emissions and rely on clean energy.
You can see the full letter here.
