Bion Files Patent on Latest Tech Platform

Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. Announced that It Has Filed a New Patent Application for its Next-generation Livestock Waste Treatment Technologies

This latest technology platform incorporates advancements that will reduce capital costs while increasing system performance for wet livestock waste applications such as dairy and beef cattle.

Bion's next-generation technology platform has been under development for the past two years at the Kreider Farms dairy installation, as well as other offsite locations. The patent application is based on Bion's "Separate and Aggregate" strategy that was previously announced inAugust 2012. Bion's goals for the next-generation technology initiative were to:

-Significantly increase nutrient recoveries from the waste stream that can then be incorporated into marketable by-products.

-Reduce capital cost by up to 60% (compared to initial Kreider Farms dairy installation).

-Significantly increase pathogen reduction capabilities.

-Generate an effluent discharge stream absent solids.

Bion's proprietary onsite data-based software, that was central in securing verified credit regulatory status at the initial Kreider Farms installation, provided the insight that has driven this technology development program. Final pilot testing will be completed this fall/winter prior to a full-scale installation.

Bion's dairy waste treatment technology platform at Kreider Farms was recently reviewed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Rural Development under their Technical Assessment review process, the most technically rigorous of all USDA grant programs, as real operating data from commercial-scale operations is required prior to qualification. The USDA findings stated that "The [Bion] project is deemed to be functional, verifiable, and sufficiently advanced to qualify to apply for USDA programmatic funding". The enhanced capabilities of the next-generation platform, coupled with its lower cost, will further Bion's efforts to participate in the clean-up of the Chesapeake Bay.

Pennsylvaniafailed to meet its 2013 Chesapeake Baynitrogenreduction target by 2 million pounds. Further, to meet its 2017 mandate,Pennsylvaniais required to reduce 10 million pounds of nitrogen from agriculture, urban stormwater and on-lot septic systems, since the municipal wastewater and forests sectors are on track to achieve their 2017 targets. Agriculture is clearly the low-cost solution as was reflected in the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget & Finance Committee(LBFC)study. The study projected up to 80 percent reduction (up to$1.5Bannually by 2025)in Chesapeake Bay compliance costs if a competitive bidding program for verified nitrogen reduction credits were adopted.

Both federal and state laws require that taxpayer funds must be utilized to procure "a cost-effective solution and alternatives [such as credits] must be considered." Today, all credits inPennsylvaniamust be verified to be utilized as a qualified offset to permit requirements; thus, verified credits are a commodity - theonlycommodity - that can be applied to a permit as an alternative (qualified offset) to a treatment plant upgrade.

EPA Region III recently issued a technical memorandum that calls for a 50% "uncertainty factor" to be applied to modeled credits, such as agricultural best management practices. The change was based upon EPA's determination, along with other studies, that the measurable benefits of modeled reductions have been significantly overestimated. This reduction in available credits, along with the elimination of "wastewaterpaper or capacity" credits, will further drive demand for verified nutrient credits to meetPennsylvania'scompliance shortfall.

A regulatory process that inhibits competition will always result in higher compliance costs that are inevitably borne by the public. A verified nutrient credit is a verified nutrient credit, regardless of its source: public or private; agriculture, wastewater or stormwater. Verified nutrient credits are a commodity, no different than paper clips; and, Bion and others have argued, should be procured by state governments using standard state commodity procurement programs. Failure to adopt the regulatory and policy reforms as outlined in the LBFC study would enable the continuance of a system that meets neither the legal requirements regarding use of taxpayer funds nor the very basic function of government as a fiduciary of those funds.

The National Milk Producers Federation, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and other agricultural organizations have recently come out publicly in support of PA Senate Bill 994, which would create a competitively-bid verified nutrient procurement program as envisioned by the bi-partisan LBFC study. Bion believes that the successful adoption of such a program inPennsylvaniawill result in a working template that can be used to cost-effectively meet nutrient reduction targets nationwide.

Source: Bion Environmental Technologies

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