Canada, Vancouver

QuestAir Technologies Inc. has announced that it will supply an M-3200 pressure swing adsorption (PSA) system to the ‘Biomethane for Vehicle Fuel’ project located at the Hilarides Dairy in Lindsay, California. Phase 3 Renewables LLC (Phase 3) will integrate QuestAir’s PSA into a plant that upgrades a portion of the biogas generated from the anaerobic digestion of manure at the 9,000-cow dairy in California. QuestAir’s M-3200 purifies methane-containing gas streams such as anaerobic digester gas and landfill gas to high purity methane, suitable for supplementing existing natural gas supplies. The system can upgrade up to 250,000 cubic feet of biogas per day.

Purified biomethane from the Phase 3 plant will fuel three heavy-duty milk trucks that have been fitted with engines to run on biomethane fuel. The project, which is partly funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is expected to be operational by the fall of 2008.

Jonathan Wilkinson, President and CEO of QuestAir Technologies said, “We are very pleased to be part of this project, the first commercial scale plant in North America to produce renewable biomethane vehicle fuel from agricultural waste.”

“California has the largest dairy herd in the US, producing nearly 30,000 tons of manure annually. This project demonstrates that this waste can be economically converted to renewable transportation fuel, reducing air and water pollution from manure, while also reducing emissions by replacing diesel trucks that service the industry.”

Norma McDonald, Owner and Operating Manager of Phase 3 said, “This project continues our efforts to expand the markets for farm-based biogas production.  At today’s prices, the plant will produce more than $1 million worth of fuel.  We’ve integrated QuestAir’s low-maintenance unit into a system that allows the farm to obtain substantial cost savings versus diesel fuel, while reducing operations and maintenance costs per vehicle.”