2012 Sustainable Plant of the Year Gallery
Stahlbush Island Farms, run by husband-and-wife team Bill and Karla Chambers, was chosen as Food Engineering’s 2012 Sustainable Plant of the Year. A biogas system has transformed the farm into a carbon negative operation, removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it is responsible for creating.
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Bill Chambers checks maintenance records for the 22-cylinder Caterpillar engine that is powered by methane and generates 1.6 MW of electricity. Waste heat is captured in an economizer that supplies hot water to the plant and preheats boiler-feed water. Source: Jesse Skoubo.
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Bill Chambers stands in front of the secondary digester of his operation's biogas system in Corvallis, OR. Source: Jesse Skoubo.
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Karla Chambers uses a whiteboard to outline the cycle of sustainability at Stahlbush Island Farms, including processing, high-tech agriculture and green jobs. Source: Jesse Skoubo.
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One of two anaerobic digesters sits to the left of a secondary digester, where remaining methane is extracted from waste to produce electricity. Management calculates Stahlbush is carbon negative, removing more pollutants than it produces. Source: Jesse Skoubo.
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Seven berry harvesters like this one were built by Stahlbush’s fabrication shop, which builds all but the most sophisticated machinery.
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Workers do preliminary sorting of blueberries into trays on the harvester.
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Final touch-up is completed on a pumpkin loader fabricated at Stahlbush Farms. Along with motor, hydraulic and truck maintenance shops, the fab shop produces most of the operation’s equipment, including conveyors and berry harvesters. Source: Jesse Skoubo.
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Shop Manager Steve Wilhelm inspects a customized squash and pumpkin trailer built on the premises. On the adjacent trailer, a conveyor belt that unloads the crop is visible.
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Cans of pumpkin purée move toward secondary packaging after retorting and labeling at Truitt Bros. cannery in Salem, OR. Truitt is part of a network of copackers working with Stahlbush Island Farms. Source: Truitt Bros.
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Years of R&D went into developing the biodegradable freezer bags used by Stahlbush Island Farms. To make the package available to other processors, the firm did not patent the film. Source: Stahlbush Island Farms
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Years of R&D went into developing the biodegradable freezer bags used by Stahlbush Island Farms. To make the package available to other processors, the firm did not patent the film. Source: Stahlbush Island Farms