Food Waste to Biogas: Optimizing Energy Recovery

PI: Jean MacRae (UM Civil and Environmental Engineering)

Collaborators: Clayton “Mac” Richardson, Lewiston Auburn Water Pollution Control Authority (LAWPCA)

To address the need to shift to renewable sources of energy as well as the large amounts of produce grown in the U.S. that is wasted, this project proposes the extraction of energy from food waste through anaerobic digestion. Researchers at UMaine will work with the Lewiston-Auburn Water Pollution Control Authority (LAWPCA) to conduct laboratory tests to determine the specifics on this energy-extraction process. If successful, this effort will allow farmers and communities to recover economic value from food waste throughout the state.