Who Has the Greenest Plant?

The field has never been stronger – nor more difficult to choose among – for our Green Plant of the Year poll. We have showcase plants from three marquee names competing this year: Anheuser-Busch, Campbell Soup and Frito-Lay.

We just opened the balloting for our fourth annual Green Plant of the Year poll, and I invite you to vote. This is an unabashed popularity contest. As in all past years, you get to choose the winner.

In greater detail, this year's nominees are:

* Campbell Soup Co.'s Napoleon, Ohio thermal processing plant – a 1954-vintage plant where Campbell is working with CH4 Biogas to create a biogas power plant that will provide electricity to manufacturing operations. An anaerobic digester will process waste that would have gone to landfills.

* The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Fairfield, Calif. – which is using "green" energy from an on-site solar array and wind turbine, in addition to using an anaerobic digester system to generate biogas from brewery wastewater. And a thermal heating array and second wind turbine are scheduled for later this year.

* Frito-Lay’s Beloit, Wis., facility – which, in addition to winning several green awards, just installed Frito-Lay’s inaugural compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station. That looks to be a groundbreaker in Frito-Lay's commitment to alternative fuel.

They're all worthy plants. Please take about one minute to read their full essays and vote at www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2013/green-plant-nominations.html . The winner will be profiled in our September issue and on FoodProcessing.com.