The City of Lincoln’s progress turning wastewater into fuel

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - It isn’t the most glamourous job, but it’s one powering engines by taking one type of gas, and converting it to another. Crews at the City of Lincoln wastewater plant are taking methane from wastewater, and turning it into fuel for city buses and beyond.

Lincoln’s Biogas project was completed in February 2021 as a way to protect the environment and put renewable resources, as well as revenue, back into the community.

“We take wastewater that comes from the toilets you flush, the showers that go down the drain, things of that nature, and we recapture those resources from that water,” said Donna Garden, assistant director of utilities at Lincoln Transportation and Utilities.

In treating the wastewater, the plant produces a methane byproduct that is then turned into renewable fuel which not only helps move some of the city’s vehicles but vehicles nationwide.

“StarTran buses can use natural gas in generating their energy for transporting around town. It also goes across the country to other places that use it as vehicle fuel. And some places it’s used as feedstock for natural gas,” Garden said.

Since fully operational in February of last year, the project has generated $3.4 million in revenue. That money then goes back into the program to allow the city to keep making renewable fuel.

LTU said they generate about 300 million BTU’s of natural gas a day, which is about 2,500 gallons of gas. As part of the project, the city partnered with Black Hills Energy to get the natural gas into pipelines.

The facilities operations coordinator at the wastewater plant said it’s been a meaningful project to be a part of.

“We are adding a useful resource back to the city back to the community and it’s coming literally from the waste that the community is producing,” said Tyler Cruthers, facilities operations coordinator. “So it’s kind of the full turnaround from from waste to useful energy.”