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Brent Verwey - Carmel Valley

15+ Years Of Experience In Biofuels & Renewable Energy

“Being environmentally friendly is good for everyone,”

Brent Verwey & Phillip Verwey

Contact Us:
(559) 908-1556

Brent Verwey's Vision For Aligned Digesters

The vision for Aligned Digesters was born in the heart of Brent Verwey as he searched for a way to help support the dairy business of his father, Mr. Philip Verwey. As the son of a dairy owner, Brent, is personally familiar with the struggles that dairy owners face while attempting to run a dairy and maintain a consistent revenue stream.

After learning about the benefits and opportunities available with anaerobic digesters, Brent constructed anaerobic digesters on his father’s farm and added an additional source of revenue to his father’s existing dairy operation. Buoyed by the success of the anaerobic digesters on his father’s dairy farms, Brent studied and travelled to anaerobic digesters all over the world so he could perfect the anaerobic digester’s design. Once Brent had perfected his design for anaerobic digesters, he started Aligned Digesters.

Our Family Farm

Philip Verwey Farms consists of about 4,600 acres, 10,000 milking cows and 7,000 young cows not yet in the milking herd. And, with that many animals, there is bound to be some major manure. Instead of letting all this waste simply go to waste, the Verwey family turns it into electricity. And bedding for their cows. And fertilizer for the fields. Oh, and at full capacity, their anaerobic digester can create enough energy to power the farm and allow the Verweys to sell two-thirds of the total energy back to their local utility cooperative. For the family, being good stewards of the land also means emissions reduction and water conservation are top priorities for themselves and their employees.

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Get to know us

Meet The Verwey Team

“We take care of each of these individual areas and will ensure the longevity of animals and the dairy industry.” — Frank Cardoza, Aligned Digesters

Brent Verwey

Aligned Digesters Owner

Philip Verwey

Farm Owner

Aligned Digesters collaborates with dairy owners to convert the biogas currently being generated by their dairies into renewable natural gas that is used by organizations and companies to implement sustainable practices in their companies and fleets. The sale of biogas generates revenue for dairy farmers, helps companies and organizations incorporate environmentally-responsible practices, and a “greener” future for us all.

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Brent Verwey & Aligned Digesters Impact

Some Interesting Facts About Aligned Digesters

Philip Verwey Farms’ diesel-to-electric conversion was one of 56 funding applications—and the only dairy-related project—to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District’s Technology Advancement Program. His idea: Rather than blending feed ingredients for his cows in a mixing wagon powered by a diesel tractor, he would blend using an electric stationary mixer. This change significantly reduced the amount of run time by his diesel engines, lowering diesel consumption by 71 percent per month. “In addition to being good for the environment, the change provided other positive benefits,” Verwey said. “The texture and composition of the feed improved, which is good for our cows.” Verwey’s idea reduced oxides of nitrogen emissions by 90 percent, providing the inspiration and model for other dairy farmers to take similar action to improve air quality. “The air district saw the success of our project,” Verwey said. “That led to an expanded program that will fund up to 75 percent of the cost of future conversions to electric mixers for dairy feed.” To date, 15 California dairy farms have submitted applications to the program and four are under contract to begin converting their feed mixers to electricity.