August 16, 2021

Smithfield joint venture completes installing manure-to-energy tech at hog farms in Northern Missouri, US

Monarch Bioenergy, a joint venture between Smithfield Foods, Inc. and Roeslein Alternative Energy (RAE), has finished installing manure-to-energy technology on nearly all of Smithfield's Northern Missouri, US hog finishing farms, Smithfield announced on August 11.

The new technology captures methane emissions and converts them into carbon-negative renewable natural gas (RNG) to power homes, vehicles and businesses.

"We are delighted to reach this exciting milestone, which is a significant step toward fulfilling our commitment to implement this transformative, cutting-edge technology on the vast majority of our finishing farms in multiple states," said Kraig Westerbeek, vice president of Smithfield Renewables at Smithfield Foods. "Our Monarch Bioenergy manure-to-energy projects are making a significant environmental impact and remove 25 times more emissions from the atmosphere than are emitted during the clean energy's end use. Because of this, they are key projects in our Smithfield Renewables portfolio of innovative renewable energy and carbon reduction efforts across our operations."

Construction of the approximately US$150 million project officially began in 2014, three years after RAE and Smithfield first had the idea to embark on the joint venture. The proprietary processes that emerged from the project create carbon-negative RNG at a rate of approximately 800,000 dekatherms annually.

"With perseverance and dedication to our vision, we navigated the pathways for swine manure with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to receive the lowest CI (carbon intensity) scores in the swine industry," said RAE chairman and chief executive officer Rudi Roeslein. "We are leading the way to improve the industry's environmental footprint and diversify its income stream. This is a blueprint on how to turn challenges into opportunities."

Collectively and independently, the companies have embarked on additional manure-to-energy projects across the United States in Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

The Monarch Bioenergy joint venture supports the companies' respective sustainability goals, including RAE's goal to restore 30 million acres of land to native prairie plants strategically located around waterways, streams, rivers and highly erodible lands and Smithfield's industry-leading goals to become carbon negative in US operations and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% across its entire US value chain by 2030.

- Smithfield