Business Focus


Heartland Renewable Energy’s focus is on the delivery and operation of natural gas “manufacturing” plants that supply pipeline-grade gas (clean methane) to end users. HRE plants incorporate patented and proprietary anaerobic digester technology to convert organic wastes into clean, renewable, methane-rich biogas and a high quality soil amendment useful for agriculture, land reclamation and other applications. This solution produces multiple economic and environmental benefits by transforming organic wastes that would normally need treatment and/or disposal into valuable products.

There are several major trends that support this business strategy.

By far the most important trend is today's high price for natural gas. The price for natural gas has more than tripled since the mid 1990's from $1 to $2 per MCF (thousand cubic feet) to the current price of over $5 per MCF, with even higher prices ($14 or more) during high demand spike periods. Natural gas prices are expected to continue to trend higher due to limited supply and increased consumption. Based on the current and projected prices for natural gas in the United States, Heartland believes it will be able to build plants that will profitably produce pipeline-grade gas from renewable resources.

The second trend is the recently revised U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations that ensure that manure, wastewater, and other process waters generated by large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (such as cattle feedyards and dairies) do not reduce overall water quality. These operations generate huge quantities of wastes that have historically been disposed of by application to farmland as fertilizer The regulatory changes, which restrict the amounts of manure waste application to agricultural and other lands, will help to ensure a ready source of feedstock for Heartland's energy producing process.

There is increasing demand from communities to better manage solid waste going to landfills or waste treatment facilities. Landfill waste decomposes in the absence of oxygen and results in the production of methane and is classified as the second-largest human-made source of methane in the U.S. In many locations there is limited space for new landfills and/or a reluctance to establish new facilities within the community. By diverting food waste currently going to landfills to anaerobic digester reduces the need for new landfill sites.

There is also a growing tendency to place more value on environmentally sustainable solutions. This trend appears to be accelerating and should provide added support to Heartland's environmentally beneficial solution.