USA: Congress Highlights Dairy Digesters as Key Solution for Methane Emissions

California Congressman Jim Costa praised the technology as a win for both the environment and economics, particularly in the dairy industry. With over half of California’s methane emissions attributed to dairy farms, digesters are being viewed as a crucial tool for emission reduction. California is already home to 129 operational digester facilities, with 238 more planned.

However, while these digesters effectively reduce emissions from animal manure, they fail to address the primary source of agricultural methane – enteric methane, or cow burps, which account for over 70% of agricultural methane emissions. Researchers are urging further exploration of dietary changes and selective breeding to mitigate this issue.

The use of dairy digesters as a tool to reduce methane emissions was the focus of a Congressional briefing last Friday. These systems, which convert animal manure into natural gas, were hailed as an economically viable solution for the agriculture industry by California Congressman Jim Costa and other speakers.

Energy Vision, a New York-based environmental research group, highlighted that scaling up dairy digesters could cut U.S. methane emissions by 14% towards the 2030 goal, but warned that nearly $75 billion in investment is required to deploy 5,000 new digesters. Costa also discussed a bipartisan bill that would grant funding for alternative manure management systems, making methane digesters more accessible across the country.

Despite their benefits, dairy digesters overlook the largest source of methane from dairy farms: enteric fermentation, or methane emitted from cow digestion. Experts at the hearing stressed the importance of exploring additional solutions, such as dietary supplements for cows and reducing herd sizes, to tackle this significant challenge.