MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Representatives from Middlebury College, Vanguard Renewables, VGS, Goodrich Family Farm, and the state of Vermont–including Vermont Governor Phil Scott and Lieutenant Governor Molly Gray–celebrated the start of gas production at the largest anaerobic digester in the Northeast on July 21 at an event on the dairy farm in Salisbury, Vermont.
The anaerobic digester–built, owned, and operated by Vanguard Renewables–can recycle daily more than 180 tons of unavoidable food and beverage waste from manufacturers, retailers, and distributors, and 100 tons of dairy manure into renewable natural gas (RNG). The Goodrichs' 900 cows provide the manure and Vermont businesses, including Ben and Jerry's and Cabot/Agri-mark, supply the food waste. The facility at the Goodrich Farm is the company’s first in Vermont and marks the first time it has supplied renewable natural gas to a college.