This company has a climate-friendly use for shells left from the Valley’s almond harvest
A new plant in Merced is turning some of California’s huge supply of almond shells into an especially rich fertilizer.
Corigin Solutions hopes to counter climate change with this use of a nut byproduct that has had little value to date.
CEO Mike Woelk hosted tours Tuesday evening at the plant, off Thornton Road near Merced Regional Airport. It employs 12 people now but could grow to as many as 40, he said.
The company expects to handle about 1,000 tons of almond shells this year but could grow to about 47,000 within three years. Orchards in and near Merced County will supply them.
“We remove carbon from the atmosphere and put it in soils, where we transform the fertility of soils,” Woelk said during a panel discussion for the guests.
The shells surround the almond kernels, which are the top-grossing crop in the Central Valley. The nut meats brought growers an average of $4,680 per ton from 2016 to 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported.
The shells are surrounded in turn by hulls, which long have been fed to dairy cattle. The hulls were worth an average of $80.20 per ton last year, according to the Stanislaus County crop report, released Tuesday.
Almond shells brought a mere $8.46 per ton, the county report said. They mainly have been sold as bedding for cattle and other livestock. They conceivably could be burned to generate electricity, but that would not do much to reduce the carbon emissions involved in climate change.
Corigin uses a well-known process called pyrolysis to make its products. The shells are heated inside the machinery to 887 degrees, which breaks them into vapors that are reduced to liquid fertilizer. Nothing synthetic is added, so the products can be used by organic farmers.
The process also yields “biochar,” a charcoal-like material that can be worked into the soil to sequester carbon. And it produces small amounts of oil and gas that could displace fossil fuels.
The panel also featured Matthew Nicoletti, a commodity trader with Penny Newman Grain Co. in Fresno. The company sells fertilizers for various crops and has added Corigin to the list.
“It really opened my eyes to the fact that we do have an amazing food system, but it isn’t perfect,” Nicoletti said.
About 3.8 billion pounds of shells were left after last year’s record crop of about 3.1 billion pounds of kernels, the Almond Board of California said. Corigin will take in about 2% of this when it reaches full capacity.
The Modesto-based board is doing research on how to use shells and other waste in ways that make money for growers while fighting climate change. This includes the woody debris left when almond orchards are replanted. Open burning of this waste is being phased out by 2025, following pressure from clean-air advocates.
Riverbank soon will get a business that turns orchard waste into vehicle fuel. It will be built at the former Army ammunition plant by Aemetis, which already makes corn ethanol in Keyes.
The field could grow even more with a bill introduced by Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock. It would provide about $2.5 billion to help farmers take on climate change.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 6:00 AM with the headline "This company has a climate-friendly use for shells left from the Valley’s almond harvest."
