Yes Pecan! Ice cream powers plant

Ben & Jerry’s are using waste ice cream to create energy. The company uses an anaerobic digestion (AD) reactor dubbed ‘The Chunkinator’ to produce biogas from ice cream waste. The biogas is […]

Ben & Jerry’s are using waste ice cream to create energy.

The company uses an anaerobic digestion (AD) reactor dubbed ‘The Chunkinator’ to produce biogas from ice cream waste.

The biogas is used in a battery to insulate water at the correct temperatures to produce more ice cream. It reduces the need for natural gas to heat the plant.

The company claims ‘The Chunkinator’ has produced power to make more than 16 million pints of ice cream so far – enough containers to stretch from New York City to Florida.

Head Engineer Arjan Vloon says: “The Chunkinator gives Ben & Jerry’s the opportunity to take what had been a waste product and turn it into a benefit for our business – producing our own energy!”

Ben & Jerry’s also stated it have been offsetting carbon emissions for nearly a dozen years through new renewable energy sources such as wind turbines and solar energy projects.

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