07/19/06 Breakthrough for digester project

Intrepid Technology of Idaho Falls has successfully processed biogas generated from dairy manure into commercial pipeline quality natural gas. It's the first time a commercial company in the US has done that. Intrepid's Brad Frazee says laboratory analysis confirms the quality of the gas produced by anaerobic digesters at the Whitesides Dairy near Rupert. FRAZEE "About a month ago we installed a unit that basically takes our raw biogas coming off the digester there and it removes all of the impurities to a point where we've got a product that is identical to what's in the natural gas pipelines." That means that Intermountain Gas will be getting the gas produced at the Whitesides Dairy which is undergoing a major expansion from two digestion tanks to ten. FRAZEE "We've got some very small pieces of equipment coming in and we'll be bottling pipeline quality gas here in a couple of weeks." While other digesters can and do produce electricity, Intrepid has invested millions of dollars into the Whitesides project with the belief that it could produce the natural gas. With the number of cows in the Magic Valley Intrepid President Dennis Keiser says his company is going ahead with immediate plans to 'start developing the first renewable large scale gas field in the world.' Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott