Emissions from Biogas Fueled Engine Generator Compared to a Fuel Cell

This is the first side-by-side comparison of these two different ways of converting the biogas to marketable distributed energy. The advanced treatment of the digester provides beneficial treatment for manure including organic loading reduction, odor reduction and enhanced handling characteristics. The engine generator (135 kW) has been operational more than 97% of the time during the first 5 years of operation. The fuel cell is a 5 kW proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM) from Plug PowerT of Latham New York. The anaerobic digester and fuel cell forms a system that reduces greenhouse gases and odors while recycling the nutrients to the soil and at the same time produces renewable distributed energy reducing fossil fuel use and reducing the need for long transmission lines