World-Class Renewable Natural Gas Facility Fuels the Community and Interest from State Commissioners.
Cow manure in its natural form may not be magical, but when you pair a dairy farm with an innovative renewable energy developer and a natural gas distribution company, that’s where the magic happens.
Case in point – the Stauffer Farms renewable natural gas digester project that went online in 2023 was designed and built by LF Bioenergy, and collects all of the cow manure and converts it into clean biogas that can be pumped directly into the natural gas pipeline. Liberty’s involvement comes with distribution to customers; the biogas is injected into our distribution system and used by our customers to heat their homes and operate their businesses.
“We have a professional team comprised of experts from the US Dairy and Agricultural Industry, but we also have a technical team well versed in energy, utility prowess, digester operations, manure systems, engineering design, construction, and operational safety,” said Brian Flis, Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer of LF Bioenergy. “Safety is trained in everything we do on each RNG sites. We conduct training and maintenance daily on each of our sites, which enhances the quality of pipeline gas being injected into Liberty - New York Gas’s distribution system. Liberty has been a strong partner throughout this project.”
Clean energy is a growing topic of conversation among many, including elected officials. Earlier this week, Commissioners of the New York State Public Service Commission David Valesky and Denise Sheehan traveled to the North Country to get a firsthand view of the RNG facility. Jeff Greenblatt, director of legal services for Liberty, Ryan Hayes, senior manager of engineering for Liberty, and Patrick Toms, operations support manager for LF Bioenergy, also joined the tour to help answer questions.
“It was an amazing day with our Commissioners, and I personally enjoyed getting to show them the great work that LF Bioenergy, Stauffer Farms, and our team have done to get this RNG facility to where it is today,” said Mark Murray, President, Liberty – New York Gas. “Equally impressive is the impact this is having on the environment. This facility was emitting a substantial amount of greenhouse gases that are now being completely contained, cleaned, and transformed into renewable natural gas to fuel homes and businesses across our area. This is a high-tech, world-class facility, and we are proud to be a part of it.”
The commissioners watched as the manure flowed through the trenches that feed into the digesters. Gone is the need to dispose of the cow manure and gone are the days of substantial amounts of methane being released into the atmosphere.
“LF Bioenergy’s core values are modeled by a ‘Farmers First’ approach, trust and transparency with each of our farmer partners,” said Cyn French, EVP, Feedstock and Marketing for LF Bioenergy. “We help farmers achieve carbon neutrality by converting methane — a naturally occurring, detrimental GHG — into pipeline quality biogas. Depending on how the digestate (anaerobic digestion coproduct) is used, there are multiple environmental and financial benefits to our farmer partners who are then able to save money on supplies like fertilizer, bedding and compost. The dairy farm’s surrounding community benefits from a significant reduction in the odor, air emissions and water quality concerns often associated with cow manure on modern, large-scale operations.”
Long story short – Fewer greenhouse gases, greater odor control, and more energy.
That’s what we call a magical mixture.
