Bion Environmental Technologies says that over the past three years, the company has modified its technology platform to enable the capture of ammonia and its conversion into commercial products, rather than its destruction. This has enabled the production of renewable natural gas from the volatile solids in the waste stream while maintaining the desired nutrient reductions.
By capturing the ammonia, Bion claims that it is now able to recover and process substantially more of the nitrogen in the manure stream into a stabilized, value-added product. Bion filed a patent on this process that recovers a nitrogen-rich, natural, non-synthetic fertilizer in September 2015. Bion is preparing a filing with the Organic Materials Review Institute for certification for use in organic production.
The technology platform can now utilize anaerobic digestion to produce methane, which can then be cleaned and injected into existing pipelines, resulting in clean renewable compressed natural gas. The gas can then be delivered anywhere in the country for use as a vehicle fuel, such as in California, where it would qualify for significantly more renewable energy credits.
