March 28, 2024
Global Renewable News

SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT
Anaerobic digester at Elk Grove dairy turns manure into renewable electricity

May 20, 2016

Typically, a dairy cow produces at least six gallons of milk each day. Along with the milk, each cow also excretes up to 140 pounds of manure and urine every day. According to a recent California Air Resources Board report, 45 percent of the state's methane emissions come from dairies, the largest source in California.

The dairy digester recently installed at the Van Steyn dairy in Elk Grove converts that waste stream to power, helping to generate valuable renewable electricity. SMUD helped install the digester, working with Maas Energy Works who designed and constructed it. It utilizes a covered lagoon to digest manure from 650 dairy cows and convert it into biogas.

The Van Steyn digester has a generating capacity of 225 kilowatts - enough electricity to power about 125 single-family homes. SMUD has a power purchase agreement to deliver the energy to SMUD's grid. It is especially valuable during peak hours (hot summer afternoons) of energy use on the SMUD grid when clean base-load power contributes significantly to reliability and helps SMUD meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Background: This is the fifth dairy digester operating in SMUD's service territory, representing about 25 percent of California's total, the most in the state. Dairy digesters keep climate-changing greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere while creating a revenue source for the farmers and supplying renewable energy to SMUD. Biogas is a significant resource in SMUD's renewable energy portfolio. Approximately 27 percent of SMUD's current energy supply comes from resources classified as renewable by the state. SMUD is on pace to have a third of its power supply come from renewable energy eligible for California's Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) program by 2020.

For more information

Sacramento Municipal Utility District
6201 S St
Sacramento California
United States 95852-1830
www.smud.org


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