[Digestion] flex-use biogas plant?

[Jason Perry]

Hi all,

This is more of a question about energy recovery from biogas than about 
digestion itself. This is also a semi-hypothetical situation. Let's say 
you have a school in New York State that has multiple dairy farms within 
3 miles. Peak natural gas use for heating the school is in 
January/February; gas use drops to almost nothing in the summer. In 
theory, if all of the dairy manure were recovered and brought to a 
central digester near the school, the biogas produced could more than 
cover the peak heating demand.

But what to do with surplus biogas for the rest of the year? Generate 
net-metered electricity, of course.

Does such a system exist, where biogas is diverted from one energy use 
to another (or some combination in between) depending on need?

Thanks for any thoughts,

Jason