Dairy Waste Converted To Renewable Fuel with Energy Commission Support

A project broke ground this month that will ship biogas from a cluster of dairies in California’s Central Valley through a pipeline network to a nearby facility to produce renewable fuel.

The pipeline, the first of its kind in the state, connects the dairy cluster to the nearby Pixley Biogas anaerobic digestion facility using a grant from the California Energy Commission.

The Energy Commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP) provided more than $4.6 million for the Pixley facility. ARFVTP invests up to $100 million annually in projects that support the advancement of alternative and renewable fuels and advanced vehicle technologies.

Once the pipeline is completed, the facility will process biogas produced from more than 36 million gallons of manure, avoiding significant greenhouse gas emissions from cattle at 12 dairies. Liquid fertilizer will be a byproduct of the biogas production process at the dairies.

The biogas facility will remove impurities from the biogas before supplying it to an adjacent ethanol production facility run by Calgren Renewable Fuels. The Calgren facility will use the cleaned-up biogas to produce renewable electricity to be used onsite, reducing the facility’s natural gas consumption.

The project is inspiring other similar efforts that will support development of renewable energy and fuel, as well as sustainable agricultural practices.