by RoesleinAE RoesleinAE

Published by St. Joseph News-Press

Written by Ray SchererRudi Roeslein remembers the lessons his father taught him, principles he said helped him foster a belief in the potential of renewable energy.

Michael Rainwater, general manager for Smithfield Hog Production Missouri, speaks at the Smithfield Foods Education Center near Princeton.

Michael Rainwater, general manager for Smithfield Hog Production Missouri, speaks at the Smithfield Foods Education Center near Princeton.

On Wednesday, Roeslein celebrated the recent opening of a new biogas production facility in northern Missouri — on the date of what would have been his father’s 90th birthday. The company for which he serves as chief executive officer, St. Louis-based Roeslein Alternative Energy, partnered with Smithfield Hog Production to create a $120 million anaerobic digestion plant just north of Albany.

“I’ve invested a little over $40 million of my own money,” Roeslein said. “I see around the world we need distributive forms of energy … I had this constant urge to look at (issues) ecologically.”

 The partnership has developed over five years, and Roeslein said the effort next fosters chances of restoring prairie in the area for growing native grasses capable of becoming processed fuel. A large crowd gathered at the Smithfield Education Center north of Princeton, Missouri, for the celebration.

The event was termed a milestone because it was in June that marked the first time that biogas processed from hog manure was injected into a pipeline.

Roeslein officials said the project focuses on goals of renewable energy, economic expansion and prairie restoration. Ruckman Farms in Gentry County is the first of nine farms slated to produce biogas.

Developing prairie gas into fuel, they added, would yield such benefits as an improved environment and broader habitat for wildlife. A return of prairie grass would result in a restoration of soil quality and cleaner water, the officials said. The Nature Conservancy is offering 1,000 acres of Dunn Ranch in Harrison County for Roeslein’s research into alternative fuel from native grass.

The biogas is derived from hog wastes from the livestock in Smithfield’s regional operations. The company raises up to 2 million hogs annually. A pipeline connects with nine gas-emanating lagoons at Ruckman.

Michael Rainwater, general manager for Smithfield’s Missouri operations, admitted the company had to be sold on the notion of biogas production from hogs. He said the project could easily help Smithfield near $2 billion in annual economic impact.

“It’s bigger than just our paycheck,” Rainwater said. “At the end of the day, that’s what’s going to keep our schools going” and promote a rural lifestyle, he added.

Guests at the celebration later had the opportunity to be bused to the Gentry County site to see the operation for themselves.

Duke Energy in North Carolina has agreed to purchase part of the processed natural gas to help meet clean energy requirements for power generation.