Biogas plant coming to Welcome

The tiny town of Welcome is hoping to reap big benefits from barnyard manure.
Gaylord-based bioenergy development company Midwest Biogas plans to build a plant near the 700-resident community that turns hog and chicken waste into energy for electricity and natural gas.

Midwest Biogas President Nick Nelson said the bioenergy park would be the first of several the company plans to build throughout the upper Midwest.

He said the Martin County plant would create about 30 jobs at the outset and 50 at full production.

Under a best-case scenario, Nelson said construction would start next spring. He claims the facility in seven years would be generating $70 million annually in area agricultural and trucking revenues.

The plant would produce renewable energy by using anaerobic digestion and combustion technology.

Manure and organic waste from hydroponic greenhouses and corn stover (cornstalk residue left in fields after harvest) could be used to produce renewable gases.

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/local_story_244220902.html