California dairy farm's electricity comes from manure; may save money and help environment

California organic dairy farmer Albert Straus says he has the perfect, if ironic, energy-saving solution for his operation: cow poop. "All of the electricity needed to run the Straus truck, several smaller vehicles and the entire dairy farm comes from a system fueled by methane gas from the cows’ manure," Tara Duggan reports for the San Francisco Chronicle. Straus says his Marin County farm has been off the grid since he installed the methane-based energy system in 2004, and hopes he is an example to other dairy farms.

"What we’re trying to make here is a model of showing that farms can be part of the solution for climate change," Straus told Duggan. His farm has a "20-year plan to sequester the equivalent of 2,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. The United Nations estimates that livestock are responsible for 14.5 percent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions," Duggan reports. Keeping the methane from hitting the atmosphere could help California's efforts to improve the environment. The state has resolved to cut greenhouses gases down to 40 percent of where they were in 1990 by the year 2030.

Straus and his cows (San Francisco Chronicle photo by Gabrielle Lurie)

Converting to methane could save money for farmers and ranchers in the long run, but the up-front costs can be high. Straus says the truck will save the farm about $10,000 a year in fuel and maintenance, but a new truck is $65,000 to $100,000, and Straus spent $130,000 to convert the truck to the new fuel system. And the methane digesters that convert the gas into electricity cost more than $300,000, though some grants are available. Straus says he has been trying to convince state lawmakers to create loans for farmers to buy the digesters. He's also consulted with a company in Washington state that farmers might be able to hire to build and maintain the digesters.