Bioenergy Devco (BDC) presented its conditional application in front of the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission for the Bioenergy Innovation Center (BIC) in Seaford.
The project comes with a $45 million to $50 million price tag.
BDC earlier acquired Perdue’s poultry waste composting facility with the goal of operating an anaerobic digestion system.
The facility will reduce the use of poultry litter being used on farm fields or going into landfills. The digester would produce renewable natural gas.
Dover-based natural gas supplier Chesapeake Utilities plans to work with BDC on transporting the natural gas by truck for use in its system.
The project has run into opposition from critics of the poultry industry, who according to a story from Delaware Public Media, claim the project amounts to “greenwashing.” The term refers to projects or projects that do not live up to their environmentally friendly billing.
Natural gas from renewable sources like poultry and landfill waste is viewed as a way to produce electricity or distribute natural gas without the issues associated with hydraulic fracturing, “fracking” of natural gas, or methane leakage from wells.
The Delmarva Peninsula, home of a massive chicken growing and processing industry, also dealt with high levels of nutrients from farm fields and fertilized lawns that can affect waterways, bays, and wells.
On March 16th, BDC’s application will go before the Sussex County Council where it is expected to receive a warm reception.
(Click on the headlines below for earlier stories).
Company buying Perdue compost plant with goal of using digesters to produce natural gas