Project Description

Crescent Farm is taking huge steps to increase farm sustainability and enhance relationships with their community by hosting a Vanguard Renewables Farm Powered Anaerobic Digester at the farm.

Approximately 3,650 tons of manure and 36,500 tons of organics annually are combined in the Haverhill anaerobic digester. Methanogenic bacteria break down the manure and organics to produce biogas which powers a 1 MW engine to produce renewable electricity. The digestate material byproduct of the process is a highly potent, low carbon liquid fertilizer used by the farm to reduce commercial chemical fertilizer use and increase crop yields.

The engine powered by the biogas produced in the Farm Powered anaerobic digester generates more than 8,000 MWh per year of renewable energy, which is provided via net metering credits to the City of Haverhill schools and public facilities.

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FARM FACTS

  • 650 acres of produce, pumpkins, gourds, hay and corn
  • Operated by third and fourth generations of Davidowicz family

  • Raises dairy cows, goats, sheep, ducks, and rabbits

  • Farm activities include farm tours and special events
  • Located in Haverhill, Mass.

DIGESTER FACTS

  • 660,000-gallon capacity
  • 160,000-gallon hydrolyzer
  • 3M gallon effluent storage tank
  • Constructed 2018

FARM BENEFITS

  • Income diversification
  • Odor reduction from replacing raw manure with odorless digestate
  • Liquid, low-carbon fertilizer to increase crop yields and protect area soils
  • Reduction in chemical fertilizer use

Annual Digester Input

3,650 tons of manure
36,500 tons of organics

Annual Digester Output

Offsets 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions
Produces 8,000 MWh of renewable energy/year from a 1 MW engine

Provides energy via net metering credits to the City of Haverhill schools and public facilities

Crescent Farm in the News

Inside Vanguard Renewables, the Northeast’s biggest food waste recycler

Vanguard Renewables is featured in a January 31, Waste Dive article by Cole Rosengren. The company recently opened its latest farm-based anaerobic digester, with more on the way. CEO John Hanselman explains why his business works where others have failed. Vanguard is the largest recycler of food waste in the Northeast.

Digester Developer Finds Sweet Spots

Vanguard Renewables uses an “everybody wins” approach as it builds, owns and operates anaerobic digesters on dairy farms to process food waste and manure according to a recent article by Nora Goldstein in BioCycle Magazine.