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Capitalizing on the green “gold rush” in California
An air quality specialist says methane is creating another “gold rush” for California farmers. While the goal is to reduce methane emissions, Frank Mitloehner with UC-Davis says producers don’t want to eliminate them.
He tells Brownfield they would end up with a net loss. “About 10 percent of the energy you feed cattle gets lost as methane,” he says. “Nobody just wants to burn that money – so you don’t want to lose that methane.”
Instead, Mitloehner says producers are better off trapping emissions. “On the dairy side, a cow normally makes around $4,000 to $4,500 per year in milk sales,” he says. “This additional sale of biogas, that’s then made into fuel will add another $1,500.”
He says more California producers are aggressively implementing these technologies because they’re seeing such a large return on investment.
Brownfield interviewed the extension specialist during the recent Missouri Livestock symposium.
AUDIO: Frank Mitloehner, UC-Davis
