Talking Green event to feature 3 speakers on waste, energy technology

FEBRUARY 28, 2017 BY YAMPA VALLEY SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL

Written by Lizzy Markman, YVSC Intern

Community members are invited to learn about anaerobic digestion, a technology that turns food waste into energy, at Yampa Valley Sustainability Council’s monthly Talking Green event on Tuesday, February 28, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (Fellowship Hall).

Yampa Valley Sustainability Council is raising awareness about new ways to think about food waste. According to the EPA, 20 percent of waste that goes to the landfill is food. This rotting food releases methane, a powerful short-term greenhouse gas that is 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Anaerobic digestion is a process that captures methane from decomposing food and organic waste and converts it into usable energy. Sybil Sharvelle from CSU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, local agricultural producer Mark Berkley of Innovative Ag and Brendan McCrann from Future Pointe will present on the process of anaerobic digestion and its practical use in the Yampa Valley.