By Nichola Groom
PIXLEY, Calif., Oct 23 (Reuters) – Joey Airoso has all the time been pleased with his cows, whose milk goes into the butter offered by nationwide dairy firm Land O’Lakes. Now he has one thing new to brag about: the huge quantities of gasoline produced by his 2,900-head herd is powering truck fleets, properties and factories throughout the state of California.
“It is fairly unbelievable if you consider it,” Airoso stated throughout a current tour of his 1,500-acre (607-hectare) farm, as a stream of watered-down manure flowed from cow sheds into a close-by pit. There the slurry releases methane that’s captured and ultimately piped into fueling stations and buildings.
Airoso is tapping right into a rising market amongst U.S. utilities for so-called renewable pure gasoline, or biomethane, that’s being pushed by the struggle towards local weather change.
For farmers, it’s a strategy to get forward of a wave of greenhouse gasoline regulation and make a bit of money on the identical time. And for utilities that purchase or transport the gasoline, it’s a means to answer the growing calls for of shoppers and…