RICHMOND, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) — A proposed partnership would aim to convert methane from dairy farms across the United States into a source of renewable natural gas.
Dominion Energy and Vanguard Renewables recently announced the more than $200 million nationwide strategic partnership.
According to a release, the natural gas could be used to heat homes, power businesses and fuel vehicles.
There are currently projects under development in Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, and other projects are in the planning stages across the country.
Through the partnership, Dominion says it will own the projects and market the natural gas while Vanguard’s subsidiary Clean Energy Investment USA will design, develop and operate the projects.
“Through our strategic partnership with Vanguard Renewables and our strategic alliance with Dairy Farmers of American, we’re rapidly accelerating the development of these transformational projects and for the first time on a nationwide scale,” said Diane Leopold, Dominion’s Co-COO. “The environmental, consumer and agricultural benefits of these projects are truly groundbreaking. We’re substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. dairy farms, delivering new sources of clean energy to U.S. consumers and providing a new source of long-term revenue for family farmers across the country.”
The release adds that methane is produced by a variety of natural sources, including dairy and hog farms as well as food waste.
When it is released into the atmosphere, methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but by capturing methane and turning it into natural gas, this partnership aims to reduce the annual CO2 equivalent emissions by more than 450,000 metric tons.
Reducing emissions by that much would be comparable to removing nearly 100,000 vehicles off the roads or planting 7.5 million new trees annually, says Dominion.
Kevin Chase, the co-founder of Vanguard Renewables says this partnership with Dominion and the DFA will have a
meaningful impact on greenhouse gas sequestration and dairy waste-to-energy production that will significantly benefit the farm community and the environment.”
The release says host farmers will receive a new income stream that will let them remain focused on farm operations while Vanguard develops and operates any on-farm facilities that are used in the energy production.
It adds that a typical dairy waste-to-energy project is made up of a cluster of farms that can have between 20,000 and 30,000 dairy cows.
Methane produced from dairy manure is captured in a process called anaerobic digestion and can be transported through low-pressure gathering lines to a central conditioning facility. The resulting natural gas will then be processed and cleaned of impurities and then delivered to consumers through an existing underground distribution network.