Bioenergy Innovation Center plans to use new organic recycling technology
When Jeff Deats looks out over the 200-plus-acre composting site he manages in Seaford, he can envision new advantages for western Sussex County – renewable energy, cleaner water and air, and well-paid jobs.
Most of all, he imagines a future in which the region is a hub for new ideas, new opportunities and cutting-edge technologies.
“Often when you find areas where new and innovative things are happening, other innovative ideas appear and spread,” said Deats, a 35-year Seaford resident who works for one of the nation's leading developers of anaerobic digestion facilities in the place he calls home.
Maryland-based Bioenergy Devco purchased the former Perdue AgriRecycle composting operation in February 2020, renamed the facility and plans to bring in new organic recycling technology. The project has earned widespread support from Sussex County leaders and is currently obtaining state permits. The Bioenergy Innovation Center is undergoing a transformation that will strengthen the western Sussex County economy, improve regional water quality and support local family farms.
When built out, the project will add 15-25 scientific and technical jobs, more than tripling the size of the current workforce. The composting operation now employs 11 staff members.
Composting Manager Joseph Norman has spent the past 10 years overseeing the facility. He takes pride in his work helping to protect local rivers and streams. With the expansion, he’s enthusiastic about helping produce renewable energy.
“I’m really proud of the work I do, the people I work with and the work we do out here. We’re always looking out for the community,” Norman said.
The expanded Bioenergy Innovation Center will use anaerobic digestion to turn waste from the chicken industry into two products. The first is clean, renewable natural gas to power homes, businesses and transportation, to be used by Chesapeake Utilities customers. The second, called digestate, will be composted onsite into a product that can be used in agriculture, land reclamation, horticulture projects, community gardens and home landscaping. The technology involves microbes, not combustion, essentially applying the process that happens inside a cow’s stomach on a much larger scale, with energy and environmental benefits at the end.
Bioenergy Devco and its partners have built 250 similar facilities around the globe and operate 140 of them. The company is now building a large zero-waste processing plant in Jessup, Md.
“As a community, we’re fortunate that we have a global leader in this field applying their international experience and expertise,” said Deats, adding that similar facilities operate as part of the wastewater treatment plants in major cities around the country.
As a result of the expansion, tens of thousands of tons of waste from the chicken industry will be diverted from land application as fertilizer, helping reduce the nutrient load on Delaware farmland that can lead to runoff and harm water quality. The expansion will allow compost production in approximately half the time and increase the permitted amount produced from 30,000 tons to up to 54,000 tons.
“Our process, which has been used at hundreds of sites worldwide, can both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help improve the health of waterways such as the Nanticoke River and Broad Creek,” said Deats.
The expanded venture will also help support Delaware family farms. Sussex County is home to more than 1,100 farms, many on the western side of the county. Continuing to divert chicken waste from land application, and continued innovation in composting and soil health research will benefit the many farmers who grow fruits, vegetables, soybeans and grains.
“We want the Bioenergy Innovation Center to support all of Sussex County and are thankful for the broad support it has received from community, environmental and agricultural leaders,” Deats said. “Innovation is not just a slogan for us. It’s what we do.”
To learn more, go to bioenergyic.com.
