One way to reduce methane emissions from agriculture is to turn organic waste into renewable natural gas (RNG). That’s what EnTech Solutions is doing in Dane County, Wisconsin, where a biogas facility uses anaerobic digestion to turn animal waste from local dairy farms into RNG that can be used as fuel.

Now EnTech plans to make its operation even more sustainable by using an electric tanker truck from Peterbilt to transport the gas from the Middleton digester facility to the Dane County landfill, where it’s injected into the natural gas pipeline to be used as transportation fuel.

Maki Trucking will add the Peterbilt 579EV to its fleet to handle the 44-mile round trip, and it will be able to haul two to three loads per day. Clean power to the vehicle will be supplied by EnTech Solutions’ distributed energy microgrid at the Middleton site, with a PACCAR ChargeMax 120 charging station. Preliminary modeling indicates that implementing EV transportation of the RNG will eliminate up to 116 tons of CO₂ emissions annually.

The biodigester facility converts agricultural waste from four regional dairy farms into RNG, eliminating greenhouse gas emissions normally released by the dairy manure. The site is powered by a distributed energy microgrid that uses solar power and battery energy storage to produce more than 2.8 MW of energy per year.

“Partnering with Maki Trucking to put the Model 579EV to work hauling clean fuel, powered by clean energy, showcases the level of sustainability that can be achieved with these vehicles in the right applications,” said Jason Skoog, Peterbilt General Manager and PACCAR Vice President.

“After 38 years of burning diesel, it was time to look closely at alternatives,” said Joel Maki, the owner of Maki Trucking. “For this operation, the EV makes perfect sense. We have the power for the truck generated on-site, we have the product to haul, produced in a sustainable fashion, and this EV is the final link to make it come full circle.”

“Eliminating the burning of diesel fuel and charging the EV truck with on-site solar power at the Middleton digester is a cutting-edge investment to further reduce carbon emissions,” said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi.

Source: EnTech Solutions