JBS unlocks renewable gas production at US beef and poultry plants

Dive Brief:

JBS USA will produce renewable natural gas at multiple beef and poultry processing plants as part of a new partnership with GreenGasUSA, the meat giant said Sept.17.
The collaborators plan to collect methane from wastewater streams at JBS facilities using GreenGasUSA’s on-site upgrading systems, which can purify biogas into pipeline-quality renewable natural gas.
The company said it will begin installing GreenGasUSA’s systems at JBS-owned processing plants in Nebraska, South Carolina and Utah, and plans to complete the additions next year.

Dive Insight:

Through advancements in technology and innovation, JBS and other meatpackers are turning to renewable natural gas, an energy source produced from manure and other waste streams, as a potential sustainability solution that can generate untapped revenues.

GreenGasUSA is a Charleston, South Carolina-based provider of renewable natural gas assets, including anaerobic digesters and gas purification infrastructure. The partnership comes as JBS focuses its efforts to reduce methane emissions from its organic waste lagoons, with the meat giant initiating more than 25 projects over the past five years.

By diverting methane from processing plants and injecting the transformed fuel into existing energy pipelines, the project with GreenGasUSA will displace the emissions equivalent of 60 million miles driven by a car, or 26 million pounds of coal burned, annually, according to a release.

“This innovative approach takes what was once an unused byproduct of food production and transforms it to offset a significant amount of fossil fuels,” CEO Wesley Batista Filho said in a statement.

JBS is set to pilot GreenGasUSA’s systems at beef facilities in Grand Island, Nebraska and Hyrum, Utah, as well as at a Pilgrim’s Pride chicken plant in Sumter, South Carolina. Construction and installation is slated for completion in 2025.

These efforts come as environmental activists step up a campaign against JBS' plan to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange over the meat giant's environmental record. Climate groups have pressured the livestock industry to do more on climate, and called on JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and other large banks to stop financing global meat and dairy companies.