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Anaerobic Digestion

Brightmark has a portfolio of circularity centers with various farms across the United States—turning organic waste into new products through circular innovations.

Arial view of a renewable natural gas facility.

Turning organic waste into new products

Brightmark’s Circularity Centers capture greenhouse gas emissions through anaerobic digestion and convert them into new products. Our projects create value from waste by generating renewable products, reducing CO2 equivalencies, and diverting waste.

Step 1: Collect

Manure, food, and other organic waste are collected on farms, and food processing facilities, and delivered from waste management companies.

Illustration showing organic waste being collected into crates.
Step 2: Digest

The waste is deposited into a digester that extracts and captures methane gas from within.

Illustration showing organic waste being deposited into a digester.
Step 3: Distribute

The methane is then separated, cleaned, and compressed into renewable natural gas (RNG) for use as transportation fuel or by area residents for heating and power.

Illustration showing the methane being distributed to power homes.
Step 4: Re-use

The remaining solids are converted into organic fertilizer or compost. Recaptured water is returned directly to the farm or site on which the digester is located for reuse.

Illustration showing the remaining solids from the process being collected by a truck for re-use.

Organic waste—reimagined

At Brightmark, we capture the methane released from organic waste and convert it into renewable natural gas, better known as “RNG.”

Renewable natural gas (RNG) is natural gas produced from organic waste like food waste and animal plant-based materials. The significant sources of RNG are landfills, animal manure, and solid waste extracted during wastewater treatment.

The gas is “renewable” because it is created by continuously produced waste and is naturally occurring as part of the decomposition process. Anaerobic digestion technology captures raw biogas, cleans, upgrades, and compresses it into RNG.

Man petting a baby cow.
Four farmers looking off into the distance on a farm.

Farmer-focused, farmer-first

Our farmers are an integral part of helping us Reimagine Waste—they
care as much about the environment as we do, which is why we’re
proud to partner with various farmers throughout the nation.

Reimagining organic waste

 

“Brightmark has been a good partner in the development of this project. This technology now also allows us to convert manure to energy and improve the environment.”

 

– Woody Larson // Larson Dairy

Arial view of renewable natural gas facility with the California Air Resources Board logo in the foreground.

CARB certified

Our centers decrease the carbon intensity of transportation fuels. See which ones are California Air Resources Board (CARB) certified.

EPA participation

Learn about our centers that participate in the Renewable Fuel Standard Program—reducing greenhouse gases and expanding the nation’s renewable fuels sector.

Digester outside of a renewable natural gas facility.

We're unwasting waste.
How renewable natural gas is made.

Renewable natural gas (RNG) is natural gas produced from organic waste like food waste and animal plant-based materials. The significant sources of RNG are landfills, animal manure, and solid waste extracted during wastewater treatment.

The gas is considered “renewable” because it is created by continuously produced waste and is naturally occurring as part of the decomposition process. Anaerobic digestion technology captures raw biogas, cleans, upgrades, and compresses it into RNG.

SEE HOW IT WORKS
To date we've reduced emissions by more than
tons of CO₂eq through our circularity centers

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Renewable natural gas offers myriad climate benefits throughout its life cycle compared to traditionally captured gas and other fuels, drastically reducing the greenhouse gases (GHGs) associated with agriculture and wastewater treatments. During anaerobic digestion, methane is captured as biogas and converted rather than released directly into the atmosphere.

Cows grazing in the grass.
Arial view of cars driving down a long road between trees.

Lowering carbon footprints

When used in vehicles, natural gas emits 6% to 11% lower GHGs than gasoline throughout the fuel life cycle. Research shows that when climate benefits are considered together, RNG from dairy manure can reduce GHG emissions by up to 400% when replacing traditional vehicle fuels.1

Interested in unwasting waste? Submit an inquiry.

            1Alternative Fuel Data Center
            1The California Air Resource Board

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