Fuel from manure
Del Rio Dairy. Image: Clean Energy
Clean Energy continues to make significant investments in the production of additional renewable natural gas (RNG) sources and has partnered with two of the most sustainability-committed global energy companies, TotalEnergies and bp, to sign partnerships with dairy owners around the US.
The first of these projects was Del Rio Dairy in Friona, Texas, where in late 2021 Clean Energy broke ground on construction for a digester that is anticipated to turn the manure from 7,500 milking cows into more than a million gallons of RNG a year. The project continues to progress, and digester tanks have been erected on the property.
At Millenkamp Dairy in Idaho, engineering and procurement are being finalised, and construction of the front-end manure handling facility is underway. Construction has started at dairy farms Marshall Ridge, Drumgoon and Victory, located in South Dakota and Iowa. With more than 30,000 cows, these dairies have the estimated potential to convert the methane produced from waste into more than seven million gallons of RNG annually.
Clean Energy has also started a digester project with South Fork Dairy in Hart County, TX. When complete, the project will produce an anticipated 2.9 million gallons of RNG.
“More fleets are finding RNG to be the most easy and cost-effective way to achieve significant carbon reductions,” said Chad Lindholm, Clean Energy’s senior vice president for sales. “As we continue to see growing demand for RNG, we’re working on the production side so that more customers can turn their sustainability goals into reality.”