The California Department of Food and Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are asking for dairy digester projects. Sabrina Hill has more.
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A dairy digester processes cow manure so that the nutrients in it can be used either as a fertilizer or in other ways.
California is the largest dairy state in the nation, with approximately 1.7 million cows which produce
more than 3.6 million dry tons of manure per year. And all that manure must to be managed to reduce or mitigate environmental impacts.
Manure can be processed by anaerobic digesters to produce biogas, a flexible renewable source of energy.
Back in 2011, several government agencies including the CDFA and the EPA joined together to create the California/Federal Dairy Digester Working Group. That is the group now asking for the digester project proposals.
Individual digester projects will have to qualify for funding on a case-by-case basis and projects can potentially receive financial support from multiple participants. Proposals are due November 1.
For more information on the proposals, click here.