Greeley has received an $82,000 grant from the Colorado state government and Governor Bill Ritter’s New Energy Economic Development grant to study the development of a “Clean Energy Park” in Greeley. Greeley’s Economic Development Manager Bruce Biggi, said that the grant will be used to study the feasibility of an energy park in east Greeley that could use waste from the JBS Swift plant, a soon-to-be-built Leprino cheese factory and Greeley’s own wastewater to create energy.
Greeley was the only city government to get a grant and was chosen from among 57 applications seeking $3 million in grant.
Biggi further said that the energy would probably be created using anaerobic digestion.
“It really gives us a ‘go-no-go’ decision,” Biggi said. Biggi said that the project could even sell energy back to a business such as Xcel Energy Inc. if the needs of Greeley’s residents are met first.
Greeley expect the study to be over by August 2009.