AMELIA COURT HOUSE—Turning organic waste into clean energy was a futuristic idea that is now a real environmental solution in Virginia.

By diverting organic waste from landfills, Massachusetts-based Vanguard Renewables is reducing greenhouse gas emissions at scale while supporting domestic energy infrastructure and regenerative agriculture for U.S. farms. Their newest facility was recently commissioned at Oakmulgee Dairy Farm in Amelia Court House.

This site and two others in Wisconsin collectively accept almost 1,000 tons of food waste per day across three key U.S. markets, infusing the grid system with enough energy to power industrial needs and tens of thousands of homes.

“We’re taking organic waste that would otherwise end up in landfills across the region and leveraging industry-best technology to deliver carbon-negative, high-quality gas to the grid,” said Mike O’Laughlin, CEO of Vanguard Renewables at the April 28 commissioning event.

Oakmulgee is Virginia’s oldest continuously operated dairy farm, run by Larkin Moyer and his sons, Jeremy and Brandon. Vanguard Renewables approached them with a proposal for the site in 2022.

The farm offered the right operational footprint for the project, including a strong, established dairy operation, sufficient scale, proximity to a gas pipeline, and access to both agricultural and food waste streams.

For the Moyers, the project provides a long-term land lease that creates an income stream while supporting a more sustainable approach to manure management. The farm also receives natural fertilizer and bedding back at no cost, helping reduce operating expenses.

The amount produced will help “literally thousands of other acres of neighboring farms” with fertilizer needs, Moyer noted.

Costs of base fertilizer ingredients have increased significantly due to geopolitical conflict.

“This will help ensure that the sixth generation has the opportunity to also run this farm,” he said. “It can keep family farms in business for their next generations too, plus creating jobs in their communities.”

Organic material processed by the digester can include fats, oils, greases, food production byproducts and unsellable food products. That waste is diverted to the site through contracts with regional food processors and suppliers, where it’s separated from packaging that is later recycled.

The mixture of dairy manure and food waste is processed in a sealed, oxygen-free environment. Resulting gas is captured and upgraded to renewable natural gas, which is delivered to homes, businesses and large corporations—creating a fully circular system.

These sites were commissioned through a joint venture with TotalEnergies, joining Vanguard Renewables’ expertise in organics recycling and biomethane production with TotalEnergies’ global energy-development capabilities. Renewable natural gas from these facilities powers AstraZeneca’s U.S. operations through one the largest corporate offtake agreements in the U.S.

See the full story this fall in September’s Virginia Farm Bureau News magazine.

Media: Contact Javier Vargas, Vanguard Renewables communications, or Moyer.