WEBVTT 00:02.033 --> 00:05.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: In the final episode of our special series this week on food waste, we 00:05.100 --> 00:10.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% look at some innovative solutions being developed to deal with the growing problem of spoiled 00:11.033 --> 00:13.133 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% and surplus food in this country. 00:13.133 --> 00:17.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Special correspondent Allison Aubrey visited a state where dairy farmers are using it to 00:17.833 --> 00:20.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% power their farms and more. 00:20.600 --> 00:25.600 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% ALLISON AUBREY: It's burger night at Barstow's Dairy and Bakery at Longview Farm in Hadley, 00:28.000 --> 00:32.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Massachusetts, and the Pioneer Valley String Band has drawn a crowd. 00:32.266 --> 00:36.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% As advertised, the burgers are born and raised here. 00:36.300 --> 00:41.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% But the cows on this farm produce more than just meat. 00:43.200 --> 00:46.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DENISE BARSTOW, Barstow's Longview Farm: Our cows are producing about a hundred pounds 00:46.466 --> 00:51.433 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% of cow manure per cow per day, and we're treating it through this system and getting electricity, 00:52.933 --> 00:55.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% renewable energy that's coming right here from the farm. 00:55.166 --> 01:00.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ALLISON AUBREY: The system that seventh-generation farmer Denise Barstow is talking about is 01:00.100 --> 01:02.000 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% an anaerobic digester. 01:02.000 --> 01:04.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Those green towers are part of it. 01:04.133 --> 01:08.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% She's one of a handful of dairy farmers in Massachusetts using this technology. 01:08.966 --> 01:12.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Just down the road, dairy farmer Peter Melnik is using it, too. 01:12.300 --> 01:17.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% STEVEN MELNIK, Bar-Way Farm: We are taking food waste from all over the greater Boston 01:17.233 --> 01:20.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% area and our very own cow manure. 01:20.066 --> 01:24.433 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% We mix them together in the digester vessel and make electricity. 01:24.433 --> 01:28.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ALLISON AUBREY: This land has been in Melnik's family for four generations. 01:28.566 --> 01:33.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% But times are tough for dairy farmers, so Melnik has diversified. 01:33.300 --> 01:38.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% His land is now part farm, and part renewable energy plant. 01:39.033 --> 01:40.733 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% The process starts here. 01:40.733 --> 01:44.566 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% STEVEN MELNIK: This is the manure pit, as we like to call it. 01:44.566 --> 01:46.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% ALLISON AUBREY: But he needs more than manure. 01:46.866 --> 01:51.833 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% The trick to making this waste-to-energy system profitable is volume, and Melnik has found 01:52.733 --> 01:55.166 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% an abundant source. 01:55.166 --> 02:00.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Millions of pounds each year of surplus and spoiled food that would otherwise be destined 02:00.133 --> 02:05.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% for a landfill now arrives at his farm in trucks like this. 02:05.000 --> 02:10.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The food scraps are ground up into a liquid slurry that gets pumped into this pit. 02:11.466 --> 02:14.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The more you add, the more electricity you can make. 02:14.733 --> 02:17.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% The waste comes from all over. 02:17.166 --> 02:22.166 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% There's unsold produce from whole foods, scraps and whey from a Cabot butter plant, and spent 02:24.233 --> 02:26.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% grain from a local brewery. 02:26.600 --> 02:31.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% STEVEN MELNIK: Inside the digester, it's about almost a million gallon tank. 02:31.566 --> 02:34.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It's heated to 105 degrees. 02:34.133 --> 02:36.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And inside there are tiny microbes. 02:36.200 --> 02:41.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ALLISON AUBREY: Microbes from these cow's digestive tracks and the rotting food produce 02:43.500 --> 02:46.566 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% methane, which is usually released into the atmosphere, playing a role in climate change. 02:46.566 --> 02:51.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But, here, when the gas is captured, it's stored in these big black bubbles, and Melnik 02:52.666 --> 02:54.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% can actually generate power from it. 02:54.833 --> 02:58.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% STEVEN MELNIK: We produce a megawatt of electricity every hour. 02:58.500 --> 03:00.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% ALLISON AUBREY: How much is that? 03:00.633 --> 03:04.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% STEVEN MELNIK: A megawatt is enough to power the digester and the dairy farm, our houses 03:07.300 --> 03:12.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and outbuildings out here, and we still have 90 percent of our electricity left over to 03:14.000 --> 03:15.533 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% be put back on the grid. 03:15.533 --> 03:18.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% ALLISON AUBREY: And the other 90 percent? 03:18.333 --> 03:22.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% It powers some of the businesses that send their food waste to the digesters. 03:22.433 --> 03:25.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It also powers two local towns. 03:25.133 --> 03:28.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% They're able to purchase the electricity at a 10 percent to 15 percent discount. 03:28.966 --> 03:31.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So, what is it that you get from this? 03:31.466 --> 03:33.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% How does this help your bottom line? 03:33.133 --> 03:35.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% STEVEN MELNIK: We are getting about $100,000 a year in savings. 03:35.233 --> 03:39.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ALLISON AUBREY: The digesters are built and run by a company called Vanguard Renewables. 03:41.933 --> 03:46.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The company pays farmers a fee for the use of their land and gives them free electricity 03:46.400 --> 03:48.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to power their farms and houses. 03:48.700 --> 03:52.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In addition to the economic boost, Melnik says he likes the environmental benefits. 03:52.900 --> 03:57.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% STEVEN MELNIK: I don't need an app or an environmental calculator to tell me that this thing just 03:59.533 --> 04:01.600 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% makes sense. 04:01.600 --> 04:05.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Having such a closed-loop system, it's really been neat to see the connection between all 04:07.033 --> 04:08.533 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% the food companies. 04:08.533 --> 04:11.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% ALLISON AUBREY: One player in this loop is Whole Foods. 04:11.266 --> 04:13.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Seventeen of their stores participate. 04:13.400 --> 04:18.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% They ship 50 to 100 tons of food waste every week to their digesters. 04:20.366 --> 04:23.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% At the stores, they grind up food they can't sell or donate, and then truck it to Melnik's 04:24.833 --> 04:26.100 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% farm. 04:26.100 --> 04:28.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Whole Foods' Karen Franczyk explains. 04:28.233 --> 04:30.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% KAREN FRANCZYK, Whole Foods: Anything that ends up going to landfill or incineration 04:30.633 --> 04:32.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% costs us more money. 04:32.233 --> 04:34.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% That is the most expensive way to get rid of waste in our stores. 04:34.933 --> 04:39.600 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% ALLISON AUBREY: So, sending the waste to the anaerobic digester is cheaper, and can help 04:39.600 --> 04:42.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% reduce the ecological footprint. 04:42.933 --> 04:47.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Up to 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food waste. 04:47.833 --> 04:52.833 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And in 2014, Massachusetts passed a law to ban food companies from sending their waste 04:53.600 --> 04:55.566 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% to landfills. 04:55.566 --> 04:59.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% It applies to all businesses that generate over a ton of food waste a week. 04:59.233 --> 05:02.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So far, four other states in the U.S. have passed similar bans. 05:02.933 --> 05:06.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN MAJERCAK, President, Center for EcoTechnology: Each part of the food waste stream. 05:06.033 --> 05:10.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ALLISON AUBREY: John Majercak is president of the Center for EcoTechnology, a nonprofit 05:10.866 --> 05:14.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% that helps businesses in Massachusetts save energy and reduce waste. 05:14.700 --> 05:19.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN MAJERCAK: To transport food waste super long distances is very expensive and also 05:19.566 --> 05:21.666 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% wasteful. 05:21.666 --> 05:25.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So the idea was to try and put dots on a map all across the state close to where the waste 05:26.966 --> 05:28.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is produced, so that it could be used to produce energy. 05:28.866 --> 05:33.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And the state did this by incentivizing the development of these digesters. 05:35.633 --> 05:38.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ALLISON AUBREY: Those dots are now sprinkled across the state, and incentives came in the 05:40.466 --> 05:44.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% form of grants given to the companies to build the digesters. 05:45.266 --> 05:47.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% John Hanselman is Vanguard's CEO. 05:47.333 --> 05:52.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He says he is inspired by what has happened in Europe, where there are over 17,000 digesters 05:53.800 --> 05:55.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and government policies to promote renewable energy. 05:55.866 --> 05:59.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN HANSELMAN, CEO, Vanguard Renewables: So we saw what was happening in Europe, where 05:59.533 --> 06:03.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% anaerobic digestion is extremely widespread. 06:03.066 --> 06:05.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Across the United States, we don't have that incentive program. 06:05.900 --> 06:10.300 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% We don't have the federal energy policy or any federal benefits for anaerobic digestion. 06:10.300 --> 06:12.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I think we are at the cusp. 06:12.033 --> 06:14.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We are at the early days. 06:14.233 --> 06:16.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% We have finally got the economics to work. 06:16.333 --> 06:21.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ALLISON AUBREY: Hanselman says, after six years in the making, he expects to make a 06:21.066 --> 06:25.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% profit this year, and he's optimistic about the growth. 06:25.800 --> 06:29.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% This waste-to-energy approach is new in the U.S., and the extent to which it can take 06:29.933 --> 06:34.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% off may depend on how much states or the federal government are willing to incentivize it. 06:36.933 --> 06:40.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% In Massachusetts, it took two new laws, a food waste ban, and a renewable energy law, 06:41.566 --> 06:44.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% plus grants to make it happen. 06:44.433 --> 06:47.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Farmer Denise Barstow is glad it's all worked out. 06:47.166 --> 06:51.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% DENISE BARSTOW: You can't just work really hard anymore and make it in the dairy industry. 06:51.133 --> 06:54.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You have to work smarter, not just harder. 06:54.866 --> 06:59.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And part of that is diversifying in a way that is better for the land, better for the 07:01.100 --> 07:03.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% animals and better for the next generation. 07:03.566 --> 07:07.633 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% ALLISON AUBREY: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Allison Aubrey of NPR News in Hadley, Massachusetts. 07:09.566 --> 07:14.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And you can see all of our stories on the topic of food waste on our 07:14.900 --> 07:16.200 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% home page. 07:16.200 --> 07:18.300 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% That's PBS.org/NewsHour.