Plant turns cow manure to ethanol

Tulare County, California, recently surpassed nearby Fresno County as the top agriculture-producing county in terms of economic value within the U.S. It’s also the country’s top dairy producing county. The result has been more investment and economic growth in a rapidly booming area already home to 450,000 people.

But there is also a downside to the local dairy industry’s continued surge: The San Joaquin Valley suffers from some of worst air pollution in the U.S., and cow effluent is a threat to the region’s already troubled watersheds.

The launch yesterday of the Calgren Ethanol Biogester, a manure-to-ethanol plant in Pixley, about 60 miles south of Fresno, is a step toward reducing emissions and dependence on fossil fuels while helping California meet its clean energy goals. According to the companies that worked together on this project, the plant is also the first digester in California to transform agricultural waste into cleaner natural gas to power another renewable energy facility. Instead of relying on the local grid, the otherwise energy-intensive ethanol plant is part of what is close to a closed loop and zero-waste system.

A coalition of several companies, funded in part with a $4.6 million grant from the California Energy Commission, is behind the plant. Designed by DVO of Wisconsin, the anaerobic digester — the core of this plant — was built by Regenis, a Washington state-based contractor. Calgren Renewable Fuels will operate the plant, which will produce up to 58 million gallons of ethanol annually, enough to fuel 145,000 cars a year.

Cows in pasture image via Shutterstock.

Read more at ENN Affiliate TriplePundit.