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    1. Energy Efficiency

    Dairy Plus Program Awards $17M+ to 15 California Dairy Farm Projects to Reduce Methane Emissions

    Jan. 23, 2024
    The projects are estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an annual total of 148,451 MTCO2e, the equivalent of removing about 32,600 cars from the road each year
    California Department of Food and Agriculture
    65afcc65dd26f9001eb1d4fa California Department Of Food And Agriculture

    The California Dairy Research Foundation (CDRF) and the Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation have announced grants worth $17.97 million through the Dairy Plus Program to 15 California dairy farm projects combined with corresponding Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) and Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP) projects. 

    The Dairy Plus Program is an incentive program operating in collaboration with CDFA's AMMP and DDRDP programs, which incentivize projects to increase dry handling and storage of manure to reduce methane production or projects that capture methane through digesters. Additionally, the program practices can further improve nutrient management and water quality outcomes. 

    The selected projects are comprised of vermifiltration (filtration of manure wastewater using worm beds), advanced solid separation assisted by flocculants (coagulation of fine manure solids for separation out of liquid), and weeping walls (non-mechanical separation of manure solids from water) to reduce methane production while improving management of nitrogen.

    The Dairy Plus Program incentive funds will enable emerging technologies to reduce methane and improve groundwater protection to California dairies as full-scale projects. UC researchers will measure the practices to quantify emission reductions and improved water quality outcomes. 

    2024 Dairy Plus program recipients are estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an annual total of 148,451 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (MTCO2e), the equivalent of removing about 32,600 cars from the road each year. 

    CDRF in collaboration with CDFA provides funding for the Dairy Plus Program, as part of a Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant awarded to CDRF by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.