May/June 2017

Communities: Private Practice
Waste Not

NSPE member puts his energy into renewable energy startup

Duplin County, North Carolina, is known for having a higher concentration of hogs than just about any place in the US, which makes it a great place if you like bacon or pork chops. It’s also an ideal location if your business is biogas.

NSPE member Sam Grossman, P.E., F.NSPE, has recently been spending time in Duplin County, working on what could be the largest utility-scale biogas facility in the US. As vice president of operations for Boulder, Colorado-based Carbon Cycle Energy LLC, Grossman is part of a renewable energy movement that’s turning agricultural and industrial wastes into energy.

Carbon Cycle Energy (C2e) was established three years ago to design, build, own, and operate anaerobic digestion and biogas treatment facilities that convert waste streams—manure, industrial food processing waste, and other agricultural waste—into pipeline-grade biogas and other sustainable energy products. Grossman’s job is to get the startup’s first plants up and running.

In December, C2e broke ground on the biogas facility, located on more than 82 acres near Warsaw, North Carolina. The $100 million anaerobic digestion and biogas treatment facility will process more than 750,000 tons of organic waste annually. Manure, agricultural waste, and industrial food processing waste will be turned into raw biogas and injected directly into a natural gas pipeline system, according to C2e. The facility will be designed to generate 6,500 dekatherms of biomethane each day (equal to 50,000 gallons of diesel fuel).

The North Carolina plant is under construction by Swinerton Builders, headquartered in San Francisco, and will take 14 months to construct. Swinerton and C2e also have future agreements in place to build similar plants in Arizona, Arkansas, and Missouri.

As government regulations restrict how US farmers handle their waste streams, they are facing a challenge, says Grossman. Traditionally, the waste has been taken to a landfill or, in the case of manure, applied to the land or fields using sprinklers, which can produce a stench for miles.

“We have a vision of the next green energy movement, which is to start managing this waste from agriculture businesses and animal husbandry and try to make other products out of that,” he says. “Maybe only 30% of that will get dumped in a landfill or land-applied. The rest will be renewable energy.”

Carbon Cycle Energy is working with Duke Energy, which is required by state mandate to use swine or pig waste for 0.2% of its energy generation by 2021. C2e chose the location of the facility because the area is home to more than 530 hog farms and is close to a natural gas pipeline. The processing of this waste will help to reduce local emissions and odors and cut down on the risk of water contamination.

Grossman’s experience of developing high-performing teams within the energy industry brought him to C2e. He also has years of experience carrying out large industrial projects with tight capital budgets and accelerated time frames.

Previously, Grossman served as the program manager of infrastructure for Chevron at the company’s Tengizchevroil Joint Venture in Kazakhstan. His expertise has been developed over 36 years in various professional roles in the areas of fossil/hydro/geothermal/nuclear power, wastewater treatment, universities, refineries, food processing, and electric and gas transmission.

Grossman, who has served as president of the California Society of Professional Engineers and as NSPE president (2009–10), has spoken out on the need to develop new energy technologies in the US and the professional engineers’ role in sustainable design. He is also active within the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, serving as chair of the committee on energy in which he leads experts on wind power, nuclear power, solar energy, and sustainable energy.

Although the US biogas industry is not as advanced as it is in other countries, like Germany, Grossman sees the potential at C2e. “We are going the next step by putting together several technologies to go beyond just making methane gas as we reduce the waste that goes to landfills and make a cleaner environment through our process,” says Grossman. “When we prove it out, we are going to be the experts.”

IN DECEMBER, MEMBERS OF CARBON CYCLE ENERGY’S MANAGEMENT TEAM BROKE GROUND ON THE FUTURE LOCATION OF A $100 MILLION ANAEROBIC DIGESTION AND BIOGAS TREATMENT FACILITY NEAR WARSAW, NORTH CAROLINA. (LEFT TO RIGHT - DAN TYNDALL, VICE PRESIDENT OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT & COMMERCIALIZATION; SAM GROSSMAN, P.E., VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS; STEVE HARMON, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF SUPPLY CHAIN AND LOGISTICS; JAMES POWELL, PAST CEO; THOMAS MULHOLLAND, CO-CEO; AND JERRY KOVACICH, CO-CEO)