Commercial Biogas Facility for Idaho

"Anaerobic digestion also removes methane from uncontrolled release to the atmosphere, eliminating a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more detrimental than carbon dioxide."

Idaho Falls, Idaho - February 2, 2004 [SolarAccess.com] Intrepid Technology and Resources (ITR) a renewable energy company announced the completion of an agreement and the securing of funding to build its first operational anaerobic digester biogas facility at the 4000 head (cattle) Whiteside Dairy near Rupert, Idaho.

The groundbreaking for this flagship digester is scheduled for March 30 2004. ITR will be employing a proprietary high-rate digestion technology that produces biogas with up to 80% methane content, which is nearly 33% greater than the industry standard, according to ITR. This commercial-scale digester facility will be used both as a production facility and as a platform to test and demonstrate a variety of methods to cost effectively utilize the gas produced on a commercial scale.

The livestock and dairy industry in the United States continues to move in the direction of fewer and larger facilities. The resulting concentration of manure continues to increase and proper disposal is becoming more critical. Anaerobic digestion of the manure is the best solution to odor problems capturing up to 80% of the offensive gasses and converting them into usable energy.

Anaerobic digestion also removes methane from uncontrolled release to the atmosphere, eliminating a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more detrimental than carbon dioxide.

Construction will be phased to allow for additional tanks and capacity to be added as the market for the gas expands and as ITR is able to optimize processing and packaging alternatives for the greatest economic returns. The company expects annual revenues from the full Whiteside Dairy digester should reach $200,000 providing a substantial economic benefit to ITR and the Whiteside Dairy. The biogas industry in Idaho alone has the potential to exceed $10 million in annual revenue due to its robust dairy operations, said ITR which estimates that the western United States could generate $75 million in annual revenues through this process.

Under the terms of the agreement, ITR will lease the site from Whiteside Dairy in exchange for providing sufficient gas to the dairy to offset its current propane usage and Intrepid will own the facility and equipment. ITR estimates the cost of the facility to be approximately $300,000 which has been secured through a private equity placement. Probably the first operational commercial scale digester in the State of Idaho, it will provide other western dairymen and members of the surrounding communities a chance to see a high efficiency, economically viable, digester in operation.

ITR said the test-bed capability being built into this facility will provide significant opportunities to attract outside funding and provide a vehicle for "value-added" demonstrations of various processes and equipment that will increase the marketability of the biogas end products.