Case Study: Renewable Dairy Fuels (RDF)

RENEWABLE DAIRY FUELS IS AN INDUSTRY-FIRST BIOGAS-TO-CNG (COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS) TRANSPORT AND POWER PROJECT.

AMP partnered with Fair Oaks Farms, a dairy farm in Indiana, to turn cow manure into energy. Every day, waste from the dairy's 11,000 cows goes into anaerobic digesters where microorganisms break down the biodegradable material and release biogas, which is cleaned, compressed, and used for fuel and power generation.

The dairy itself is powered almost entirely from the renewable energy produced by the digesters, and by the end of 2011, a fleet of 42 milk-delivery trucks will run solely on CNG, displacing 11 million highway miles formerly powered by diesel.

The project will be profitable in its very first year of operations. It has created local jobs in trucking, construction, and management. The dairy will see a 22.8% reduction in its greenhouse gases and has now added a system to create value from what was just waste before.

And this is just the start. The US dairy industry has identified more than 1300 sites for similar projects, representing more than $500 million in investments.