Economic Feasibility Study of Colorado Anaerobic Digester Projects ...

• Promotion of energy as a source of “green energy” to generate voluntary
private payments that may fund the necessary infrastructure and program
administration for AD technology.
• Improved implementation of net metering practices.
3.2.2 Permitting: The Colorado AD permitting process was noted by many technology
providers as another significant barrier to AD projects, in terms of time and expense.
Technology providers also reported inconsistencies in the application of rules towards
different technology designs. However, compared to other western states, providers
described Colorado has having a “mid-range” level of difficulty, and felt that improvements
could be made to expedite the permitting process. Because the state permitting process is
a regulation that GEO may be able to directly influence, more time was spent on
researching how Colorado permitting practices compared to other neighboring states. A
comparison between Colorado and other western states is provided in a dedicated
“permitting” in Section 4.0. Two specific concerns that technology providers voiced about
the Colorado permitting process are:
• The perception is that the permitting process is difficult in Colorado for codigestion.
This is particularly problematic since co-digestion is a key
approach to improve AD feasibility.
• There is a stigma associated with being labeled a “waste energy facility” on
permitting applications. This stigma could result in a “NIMBY” perception
with the general population.
3.2.3 Operational and Technical Feasibility: A great deal of useful information about the
technical feasibility of AD systems is available at the EPA AgStar website. In addition to
these technical feasibility reports, technology providers identified areas that posed specific,
timely operational issues for Colorado and suggestions of policies that could improve the
operational feasibility of AD. These issues can be categorized into four general areas:
A. Development of Technology to Overcome High Solids Content Waste: High solids
content waste is a major barrier that has been identified as unique to Colorado and
the arid western United States. Technology providers consistently noted that
research dollars spent to study methods for overcoming high solids content waste
may provide considerable payback for future implementation of AD technology in
the state of Colorado. At the moment, private funding for high solids content
research may not yield economic returns for industry, but research conducted at the
Economic Feasibility Study of Colorado Anaerobic Digester Projects
Prepared by Dr. Catherine Keske, Colorado State University
August 2009
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