Who It’s For
Who It’s For
FARMS
We work alongside farms to solve manure and nutrient management challenges and provide a diversified income stream. A typical farm in our Farm Powered program has 350 to 1,500 milking head and approximately 1,800 acres. Hosting a Farm Powered facility minimizes on-farm methane emissions by recycling farm manure, combining it with food and beverage waste in an anaerobic digester, and producing renewable energy and low carbon fertilizer. Farms receive an additional income stream for hosting the digester, reduced expense for fertilizer and bedding, methane emissions reduction, enhanced nutrient management, and improved herd health.
Farms can be secure knowing that the anaerobic digester on their farm is owned and professionally operated by Vanguard personnel with 24/7/365 monitoring. Farmers can do what they do best: farm their land.
Regenerative agriculture and sustainability take center stage in the operations of Vanguard’s farm partners.
Farm Powered Projects
Farmers are proud stewards of the land — concerned neighbors striving to do what is best for the herd, their farms, and the community — and we are proud to call them our partners.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY
We work with food and beverage companies to recycle all inedible waste as we strive to do better for people, planet, and profit. Together with our partners, we offer a pathway to repurposing that waste into renewable energy
Food and beverage partners get a customized, reliable, and cost-competitive food waste recycling solution that complies with state organics recycling mandates and sustains an American farm. And, the opportunity to decarbonize their thermal load with renewable natural gas procurement.
Food and beverage companies and other waste producers get a cost-effective, customized, and scalable food waste collection and recycling plan. And, help sustain a family farm.
Major Farm Powered food manufacturers, producers, retailers, and institutions include Middlebury College, Gorton’s Seafood, Polar Beverages, Whole Foods, Cabot Creamery, Polar Beverages, Harpoon Brewing Company, New England Natural Bakers, Cape Cod Chips, and Hillebrand.
Vanguard’s Farm Powered Strategic Alliance supports decarbonization and corporate and institutional ESG goals, while providing the transparency and traceability of waste streams customers demand.
Vanguard currently collects and recycles more than 500 tons of food and beverage waste per day into clean, renewable energy. That’s greater than the weight of the Statue of Liberty.
CORPORATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS
Founded in 2020 with Unilever, Starbucks, and Dairy Farmers of America, the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance commits to reducing food waste from manufacturing and the supply chain and repurposing any unavoidable waste that cannot be eliminated into renewable energy via a Farm Powered anaerobic digester. FPSA members also commit to begin exploring the process of decarbonizing their thermal energy usage by converting to farm-derived renewable natural gas.
Vanguard’s Farm Powered Strategic Alliance supports decarbonization and corporate and institutional ESG goals, while providing the transparency and traceability of waste streams customers demand.
In addition to our corporate FPSA partners, we are proud to help some of the nation’s top colleges and universities including Middlebury College to meet decarbonization and renewable energy targets by purchasing Farm Powered renewable energy.
The Farm Powered Strategic Alliance continues to grow and welcome leading U.S. food manufacturers that are committed to decarbonization and climate change mitigation as Vanguard expands our recycling facilities’ footprint to all the major metro areas in the U.S. And, expand to include colleges and universities, healthcare, and other organizations interested in recycling food waste and purchasing renewable energy to decarbonize their thermal energy usage.
“This unprecedented commitment by food industry leaders to the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance is a call to action for others to follow to impact climate change and shape a sustainable future for America and the planet. This transformative movement will repurpose food waste that cannot be eliminated into renewable energy and low carbon fertilizer for farm use. Working with our Farm Powered Strategic Alliance partners, we plan to expand our organics recycling facility footprint to all major metro areas nationwide.”
“The Farm Powered Strategic Alliance is an impactful solution to tackling both food waste and carbon emissions. We’ve made great strides in eliminating food waste at the store level with our Starbucks Foodshare program, which has helped divert 25 million meals from landfills. The Farm Powered Strategic Alliance offers an innovative solution for our supply chain, and brings us one step closer to our goal of a resource positive future.”
“If you’re just going to milk cows or grow lettuce, that’s really hard because it’s cyclical; you need to be diversified and not depend upon just one income stream. A lot of dairies have been really struggling; the Farm Powered anaerobic digester has been an important part of making our farm sustainable.”
The Renewable Natural Gas Advantage
Carbon Intensity by Fuel Type[gCO2e/MJ]
For every 1 megajoule of energy produced…
Farm Powered RNG derived from DAIRY MANURE OFFSETS 234 CO2 equivalent grams of GHG emissions
Farm Powered RNG derived from FOOD WASTE OFFSETS 45 CO2 equivalent grams of GHG emissions
*Carbon intensity estimates provided by EcoEngineers 11/8/2018 utilizing the CA-GREET 3.0 model issued by the California Air and Resources Board (effective 1/4/2019).
**Avoided emissions assume CNG is used as a California transportation fuel, displacing conventional diesel fuel in heavy duty applications. Avoided emissions from organic waste based on landfill diversion and 90% decomposition of degradable organic carbon (DOC) during the AD process.
RNG PURCHASERS
Corporations and institutions can purchase renewable natural gas to decarbonize their thermal load and meet sustainability mandates. Renewable natural gas produced from co-digestion of food waste and farm waste has a -45 Carbon Intensity Score, which is significantly better than natural gas, landfill RNG, solar, or wind.
For gas providers, renewable natural gas procurement provides an increase to the green supply that can be marketed to retain key account customers such as large corporations with aggressive decarbonization goals. Gas utilities can also offer RNG in voluntary retail programs to customers who are willing to pay a premium for a renewable energy source.
Renewable natural gas can also provide an option for utilities in service territories promoting electrification, i.e. banning natural gas distribution pipes to new buildings.
