Promoting Economic Empowerment in Chicago

Green Era Campus is revitalizing the Auburn Gresham area of Chicago through the transformation of a 9-acre vacant brownfield site into a renewable energy and urban farming campus. Since its founding in 2014, the nonprofit organization has been offering small business incubation and educational programming, generating green energy, providing fresh produce, and installing community green space — all aimed at rejuvenating the area after years of redlining and disinvestment. Green Era is also set to create hundreds of new jobs for local residents of Chicago’s South Side.

The campus employs an integrated, closed-loop model to promote both economic growth and sustainability, with a particular focus on addressing food waste. The US Environmental Protection Agency reports that food waste is the largest category of solid waste sent to landfills nationwide. To respond to this challenge, Green Era has installed an anaerobic digester designed to convert inedible food scraps into renewable natural gas (RNG) and nutrient-dense compost. This compost is offered at low cost to farmers across Chicago, along with being utilized on Green Era’s urban farm, which is projected to produce more than 26,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables each year. Through its innovative technology, Green Era processes more than 100 million pounds of food waste annually.

"Green Era Campus demonstrates how climate solutions can also be economic development strategies, transforming food waste and underused land into jobs, clean energy revenue, and increased access to affordable, locally grown food. With an operational anaerobic digester, pipeline interconnection, and planned solar power agreements, the project creates a scalable model for neighborhood-based, circular-economy growth."

Josh Bledsoe, Partner, Orange County

Among its efforts, Latham assisted Green Era in establishing an interconnection to a nearby natural gas pipeline, where it injects the RNG created by its anaerobic digester. Green Era then sells the RNG it generates to create revenue to support its urban food waste recycling and urban farming operations.

In further support of the project’s closed-loop system, our lawyers are helping Green Era negotiate a solar power purchase agreement and associated lease, and continue to advise Green Era as it negotiates feedstock supply agreements.

“Green Era Campus demonstrates how climate solutions can also be economic development strategies, transforming food waste and underused land into jobs, clean energy revenue, and increased access to affordable, locally grown food,” said partner Josh Bledsoe, who oversees the Latham team working with the nonprofit organization. “With an operational anaerobic digester, pipeline interconnection, and planned solar power agreements, the project creates a scalable model for neighborhood-based, circular-economy growth.”