Six percent of California's dairies are under contract with a new company called BioEnergy Solutions. BioEnergy Solutions clusters dairy farms together and developed a method to trap the greenhouse gas, methane, and convert it into renewable natural gas. BioEnergy then injects the clean natural gas into the Pacific Gas and Electric Company's pipeline.

Farmers are benefitting by receiving monthly checks from methane sales as well as yearly checks from carbon credits, according to a recent article from Dairy Today. Farmers also reduce their dairy's carbon footprint by reducing the amount of greenhouse gas being emitted.

All the risk is taken by BioEnergy in the process. BioEnergy is responsible for financing, building and managing all parts of the methane-to-market system, according to the Dairy Today article.

For BioEnergy's recent work, they won the 2009 Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award, the highest environmental honor in the state of California.

Currently, BioEnergy's David Alberts admitted that raising capital has been difficult but demand for clean energy is much higher than the supply, "We get calls every week from private companies wanting to buy our biogas. They want to do a better job of being green."

Future

As each state's renewable energy standards rise, abundant sources, like manure, will solve many issues. Farmers have often been blamed for producing excess amounts of greenhouse gasses, especially dairies, but companies like BioEnergy are creating a win-win situation for these farms. BioEnergy makes money by selling the natural gas and farmers make money and reduce their carbon footprint by getting rid of their manure. Even the state benefits by increasing the amount of their energy that comes from renewable energy sources, helping the state reach renewable energy standard goals.

Recycling methane through companies like BioEnergy Solutions provides a new way for farmers to receive income. Dairy farms in places like Wisconsin could definitely use a boost in income, where dairy farmers are losing $100 per cow each month, according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.

-Colvin