Ash Grove Dairy near Lake Benton, Minnesota, is generating renewable natural gas by converting manure from its 2,100 cows through a methane digester that has been running for about 18 months. The digester, which is owned by a joint venture between Clean Energy Fuels Corp. and bp called Renewco, processes 60,000 gallons of manure daily, capturing methane and converting it into RNG. The dairy supplies the manure and receives a portion of the revenue from RNG sales.
The cleaned and concentrated methane is transported to a pipeline in Brookings and then sold to transportation markets like California or companies such as Amazon and UPS to offset emissions.
The methane project is viewed as a “win-win,” boosting sustainability and generating new income, while continuing to focus on producing high-quality milk.
Photo Credit: The USDA
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