Biogas Recycling

Harnessing methane from our treatment process

SacSewer’s biogas recycling program is just one of the ways SacSewer works to reduce impacts on the environment by innovatively reusing valuable resources. Methane gas, or “biogas,” is a by-product of the solids digestion process that is used to produce steam and electricity at the Carson Ice-Gen Project, a cogeneration facility owned by Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and located at the EchoWater Resource Recovery Facility (EchoWater Facility).

Sending gas to the cogeneration facility for recycling purposes instead of open flaring at the waste gas burners (which was the practice prior to 1996) greatly reduces emissions of air pollutants as well as greenhouse gases from the facility.

FOG

Power Generated

The SMUD cogeneration plant has a capacity of 100 megawatts of power for local residential and industrial use. The electrical power produced with the facility’s digester gas is enough to provide energy for approximately 7,500 households annually.

SacSewer also buys some of the steam produced by the recycled methane to heat the digesters at the facility. In the event of a local power failure, the cogeneration plant serves as a backup power supply to keep the EchoWater Facility running.

Biogeneration Facility Project Documents

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