Two years ago, I wrote in Ag Data News about how a dairy cow's manure was half as valuable as its milk. This value stemmed mostly from huge subsidies available through California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard. I updated the analysis last year. These articles remain among the most read Ag Data News articles behind
Aren't dairies outside CA also eligible for subsidies related to the LCFS? Not sure the data is there to track their growth, or lack of growth. Accessing LCFS subsidies is often mentioned by outside of CA digester projects.
Yes, they are. I focused on CA dairies because most new digester projects have been in CA. CARB doesn't release LCFS credit generation data separately by state.
According to the EPA Agstar database, CA had 91 operational dairy digesters as of May 2022, whereas WI had 38, almost all of which started operating before 2017. I expect it is quite likely that many of these WI dairies are participating in the LCFS.
Aren't dairies outside CA also eligible for subsidies related to the LCFS? Not sure the data is there to track their growth, or lack of growth. Accessing LCFS subsidies is often mentioned by outside of CA digester projects.
Yes, they are. I focused on CA dairies because most new digester projects have been in CA. CARB doesn't release LCFS credit generation data separately by state.
Wisconsin has more manure digesters than CA even though they have less cows. Many CAFOS have switched to lcfs from offsets in wi
According to the EPA Agstar database, CA had 91 operational dairy digesters as of May 2022, whereas WI had 38, almost all of which started operating before 2017. I expect it is quite likely that many of these WI dairies are participating in the LCFS.
You’re right- American biogas council had different numbers!