Campbell creates Ohio’s first commercial biogas power plant

Campbell Soup Company announced a partnership with CH4 Biogas to create Ohio’s first commercial biogas power plant to generate renewable electricity.

In a press release, Campbell said it will direct waste generated from its soup, sauce and beverage production in Napoleon, Ohio, diverting 35 to 50 per cent of its current waste away from Henry County landfills.

The anaerobic digester will process material from area food processors, waste recyclers and local dairy farms, generating methane gas which will be used to fuel turbines that will produce energy for Campbell’s existing beverage production and offsetting fossil fuel use.

The power generated for the beverage facility will replace about 25 per cent of Campbell’s Napoleon facility’s annual electricity use.

“This new biogas technology will improve Campbell’s Napoleon recycling rate to approximately 95 per cent, reaching the company’s 2020 destination goal for the site early,” said Dave Stangis, Campbell’s VP of public affairs and corporate responsibility in the release. “The use of biogas energy will reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the use of electricity in this facility by approximately 16,000 metric tons per year, or the equivalent of 3,000 cars.”

The biogas power plant, Napoleon Biogas, will be located on more than seven acres of land directly across the street from the Campbell site in Harrison Township.

Other industry and farming operations in the area will also be able to leverage the facility, as the digester can handle approximately 450 tons of mixed waste organic material a day, leaving 60 per cent available capacity.

Construction is underway and slated for completion in mid-2013.