Renewable energy company Biodico introduced its Master Community Design technology Nov. 3 to business leaders, farmers, farmworkers, academics and local governments at the Zero Net Energy Farm Summit hosted at Red Rock Ranch in Five Points, California. The technology enables farms and local communities to identify on-site renewable sources of clean energy and then create a plan to convert those resources into electricity and liquid biofuel. Biodico worked with mapping and spatial analytics company ESRI to develop an application that generates interactive referencing maps of renewable resources anywhere in California.

“We utilized our Zero Net Energy Farm as a model to develop an easy-to-deploy, internet-based solution that provides a real-world visualization of resources available to farmers and communities in need of affordable access to clean energy,” said Russ Teall, president and founder of Biodico. “Our research is a pivotal step to prepare for the deployment of the application in other regions throughout the United States and on a global scale.”  

Teall added, “Governments and municipalities throughout the world are in search of economical solutions that provide secure, clean and efficient sources of renewable energy, in addition to generating jobs, and we are excited to introduce our application at such a critical time of need.”

Biodico’s Zero Net Energy Farm is in part funded by the California Energy Commission’s Electric Program Investment Charge. ZNEF is the world’s first fully sustainable liquid biofuel facility to help address energy needs and climate goals in California’s Central Valley. The region has some of the worst air quality in the U.S. and is home to the poorest cities on the West Coast.

Biodico worked with Rey Leon, the mayor of Huron—considered the most impoverished city in California—as part of the development of ZNEF and the Master Community Design application.

“My job is to improve the quality of life for my community, and Biodico is developing cost-effective solutions that we can access to power our homes and businesses, and without polluting the air we breathe,” Leon said. “There is a great income disparity in our home state of California. The least we can do is help narrow that gap by enabling access to clean, affordable energy and transportation.”

Ryan Perkl, a senior consultant and project manager from ESRI, said, “We are honored and excited to work with Biodico and the surrounding community to help illuminate the potential for access to renewable energy through our mapping software. Delivering scalable technology with the potential to inform positive, real-world change is a primary focus at our company. Biodico’s use of our GeoPlanner application is a perfect example of how we can solve problems together by leveraging a common visual and analytical language enabled by the power of web GIS.”

Biodico is a privately held company headquartered in Ventura, California, that builds, owns and operates sustainable biofuel and renewable energy facilities; conducts research and development with the U.S. Navy; and collaborates with strategic joint venture partners to commercialize new technology and initiatives. The company and its management have been pioneers in the industry for the past 25 years, with an emphasis on using advanced, patented and proprietary technologies for the sustainable multifeedstock modular production of next-generation biofuels and renewable energy.