Grand Island has sold $7 million in bonds to help finance a project at the JBS Swift beef processing plant that will generate methane gas from the plant's waste.

Environmental Power Corp. said the biogas project is already under construction, and is scheduled to begin producing methane gas by the end of the year.

Environmental's Chief Executive Rich Kessel said the bond sale shows that there is still a market for tax-exempt bonds even after all the turmoil in credit markets this year.

The biogas project will use an anaerobic digester to convert animal waste into methane gas that will help fuel the plant's existing boilers.

JBS Swift expects to reduce its natural gas purchases by 25 percent once the biogas plant opens.