On Monday, December 3, members from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced that California Bioenergy LLC (CalBio) was awarded funding for 3 Dairy Pilot Projects selected to install dairy digester renewable fuel technology. The announcement is available at http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/renewable_natural_gas/.

The dairy bio-methane pilot program is part of the state’s strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, including methane, which is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Legislation adopted in 2016 requires the state to reduce methane emissions from the dairy and other livestock sectors by 40 percent by 2030. Emissions from dairy manure account for approximately 25 percent of the State’s overall methane emissions. The inter-agency committee that selected the projects consisted of representatives from the CPUC, CARB, and CDFA.

By Neil Black, Dairy Business