September 28, 2020

Chevron, Californian dairy farmers form first renewable natural gas joint venture

San Ramon, California-based Chevron U.S.A., California Bioenergy (CalBio), and Californian dairy farmers announced last week their joint venture, CalBioGas LLC, on the first renewable natural gas (RNG) production from dairy farms in Kern County, California, CStoreDecisions reported.

The joint venture is committed to provide affordable, reliable and cleaner energy to California consumers.

Manure storage on dairy farms leads to the release of methane, a greenhouse gas. CalBio brings technology and operational experience to help build digesters and methane capture projects to convert this methane to a beneficial use as RNG. CalBio, dairy farmers and Chevron are funding digester projects across three geographic clusters in Kern, Tulare and Kings counties. When these projects are completed, they will reduce methane and greenhouse emissions from dairy cattle.

The projects are designed to send dairy biogas to a centralised processing facility where it will be upgraded to RNG and injected into local utility SoCalGas' pipeline. The RNG is then marketed as an alternative fuel for heavy-duty trucks and buses.

"The project is the result of efforts of a remarkable range of stakeholders, including the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utility Commission. CalBio also is honoured to be supported by a group of California's dairy farmers, Farm Credit West and Chevron, California's largest energy company," said N. Ross Buckenham, CalBio's CEO. "These projects bring so many win-wins - they help create local jobs, improve local air quality by producing renewable natural gas for use in low-NOX emission fleets, and reduce dairy methane emissions."