Climate change policy & the adoption of methane digesters on livestock operations

Drovers CattleNetwork
Nigel Key and Stacy Sneeringer, ERS Updated: February 8, 2011

What Is the Issue?
Methane digester systems capture methane from lagoon or pit manure storage facilities and use it as a fuel to generate electricity or heat. In addition to providing a renewable source of energy, digesters can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, odors from manure, and potential contamination of surface water. Methane digesters have not been widely adopted in the United States mainly because the costs of constructing and maintaining these systems have exceeded the value of the benefits provided to the operator. Policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could create new opportunities for livestock producers to earn revenue from burning methane from manure, making such biogas recovery facilities profi table for many livestock producers. However, there is likely to be wide variation in the scale, location, and characteristics of livestock operations that would benefit, so these policies could have longrun structural implications for the U.S. livestock sector. In this report we estimate the number and type of hog and dairy operations that would find it profitable to adopt a digester at any given carbon price. We also estimate the relationship between the price of carbon (CO2) and the amount of emissions reduced by digesters on these operations.

Read more