Cow Dung: Cali’s Next Power Source?

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and BioEnergy Solutions’ biogas-to-pipeline injection project in Fresno County, California has begun production of renewable natural gas derived from cow manure. The gas emitted from cow dung will be cleaned and transmitted via a PG&E pipeline, which the power giant will then use to make energy.

A BioEnergy Solutions system reduces emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide, by 70% on a 5,000-cow dairy. BioEnergy Solution’s first project was executed at Vintage Dairy, owned by dairyman and BioEnergy Solutions Founder David Albers, in Fresno County, California.

Manure from 5,000 milk-producing cows and calves is flushed into a covered lagoon the size of almost five football fields and over three stories deep. Methane gas produced as the manure decomposes and is trapped in the lagoon, where the methane is upgraded, or “scrubbed,” to remove corrosive materials to meet PG&E standards. The cleaned gas is then transmitted via PG&E pipeline and is used to deliver renewable electricity to PG&E customers in central and northern California.

Under a long-term contract approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), BioEnergy Solutions will deliver up to three billion cubic feet of renewable natural gas to PG&E annually.