Last year my father sent me an article from the Los Angeles Times about a company that was using its waste to partially power the company. I did not follow up on it at the time, but he called the other day (almost exactly one year after the original article) and said, “There’s this company you ought to look into.” Little did he realize he had already informed me, albeit indirectly, of their exploits.

Gills Onions in Oxnard, California was recently featured on Huell Howser’s California’s Green. In episode #134 (the 34th of the first season), Howser visits Gills Onion “which is not only the largest onion processing plant in California but its also the greenest. Each day they convert over 150 tons of onion peel and juice waste to power fuel cells on site that provide enough power to run the lights and refrigeration.” HDR Engineering, Inc, the company that built and designed the energy recovery system, won the “American Council of Engineering Companies . . .  Grand Conceptor Award”, for the project.

According to the Los Angeles Times article, co-owner Steve Gill these efforts have reduced the electric bill by $700,000 annually. “He’s also saving $400,000 a year on disposal costs. And he has secured more than $3 million in government and power company incentives to do it.” Gill is quoted as saying “‘it was first a business decision to solve a waste problem.’” The article reports that “the $9.5-million system will pay for itself in less than six years while eliminating up to 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions a year.” By fermenting onion juice, the methane can be burned in two on-site fuel cells.

Although the payback period may be a bit long for some, this type of system demonstrates the twofold impact on companies. By generating their own power and reducing their waste, they save money on both fronts, not to mention decrease their environmental impact. The energy source is both renewable and sustainable.

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