UC Davis, ranked the most sustainable university in the United States for the last eight years, continues to make a significant impact on climate change by targeting one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions: food waste.聽With a recent $4.77M million grant from聽CalRecycle, the university is upgrading its Renewable Energy Anaerobic Digester, or READ facility, aiming to dramatically reduce methane emissions from landfills by diverting thousands of tons of food waste every year.
Tucked away on the west side of campus, UC Davis鈥� READ facility receives 20 tons of food waste per day from customers including local grocery stores and our own campus dining commons. With the improvements the grant provides, the READ facility becomes an important part of UC Davis鈥� strategy to eliminate the use of fossil fuels from its operations and fight climate change.
鈥淔ood waste in landfills generates methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide,鈥� said Carla Fresquez, interim director of UC Davis Sustainability. Processing organic waste in the anaerobic digester converts it into biogas (a renewable energy source), liquid digestate, and ammonia concentrate 鈥� a once hazardous compound that is now distilled to create a valuable agricultural fertilizer. The grant will fund three essential upgrades: a new gas engine, an advanced depackager and an additional digestion tank.