Biofuels: Cow power carries California milk to market
The nation’s first cow-powered truck debuts at World Ag Expo in Tulare, CA
Two trucks that normally run on diesel have been converted to run on biomethane – produced from cow manure at Hilarides Dairy. This renewable fuels model reduces global warming emissions (methane from manure), air pollution (from diesel emissions) and dependence on fossil fuels, without a food-fuel trade-off in land use. Nationally, dairy cows could power about one million vehicles with clean-burning biomethane.
“In California, the manure is plentiful, the technology is here and public-private partnerships can make this work,” said Allen Dusault, Sustainable Conservation’s director of sustainable agriculture. “Biomethane is the only vehicle fuel that is carbon negative. The production process prevents greenhouse gases from reaching the atmosphere, and the resulting fuel is clean burning. Across the nation, the benefit to the climate could be as great as taking 16 million cars off the road.”
Rob Hilarides, owner of Hilarides Dairy in Lindsay, Calif., said, “For us it made sense to invest in this technology. Now we can utilize the dairy’s potential to power our trucks, in addition to generating electricity for our operations. This will significantly reduce our energy costs and give us some protection from volatile energy prices.”
Watch Hilarides explain the process and benefits: http://wud.telefeed.com
“This project demonstrates the pride California dairy families have in providing innovative leadership while trying to solve the energy and air pollution issues facing our Valley,” said Michael Marsh, chief executive officer of Western United Dairymen.
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency invested in this project because of its significant potential to reduce diesel pollution in California’s San Joaquin Valley and other comparable regions and because of the tremendous co-benefits for greenhouse gas reduction and energy security,” said Kerry Drake, associate director, Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
California Deputy Secretary of Energy Policy Coordination Dan Pellissier said, “Biomethane gives California a renewable fuel that is locally produced and consumed, clean burning and carbon negative. Not only does it help California meet our targets for reduced greenhouse gas emissions, it provides clean, renewable energy without competing for the state’s fertile farmlands.”
Converting cow manure into biomethane involves proven technologies that trap methane and turn it into clean-burning fuel. It is a straightforward process. Manure is flushed from the cows’ stalls into a covered lagoon where bacteria convert the manure to biogas. The trapped gas is sent from the lagoon to a biogas upgrading system which removes impurities in the gas. Pressurized biomethane is put into the truck’s fuel tank. Learn more in the definitive report, “Biomethane from Dairy Waste: A Sourcebook for the Production and Use of Renewable Natural Gas in California,” www.suscon.org/cowpower/biomethaneSourcebook/biomethanesourcebook.php.
Partners in the project
• Hilarides Dairy
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Western United Resource Development, Inc.
• Western United Dairymen
• Sustainable Conservation
• California Air Resources Board
• CalStart
• California Department of Food and Agriculture
• Hilmar Cheese Company
• Kustom Products
• Phase 3 Renewables
• University of California, Davis
