Cargill's Second Dairy Farm Digester Captures Methane for Power
An Idaho dairy farm is illustrating how environmental innovation
can simultaneously help solve problems as global as climate
change and as local as livestock manure. A Cargill built and
operated anaerobic digester on the Bettencourt Dairy B6 Farm is
now converting manure from the farm’s 6,000 cows into 1 million
kilowatt-hours of electricity per month. The electricity is sold
to the local power grid. “We’re proud to be creating a renewable
source of electricity,” said Bettencourt Chief Financial Officer
Rick Onaindia. “Our digesters are also helping us reduce overall
operating costs.” The anaerobic digester from Cargill’s
Environmental Finance group operates by feeding manure into a
large, sealed, in-ground, oxygen-free vessel. Bacteria break
down the waste creating methane biogas. The gas is then captured
and burned in a series of generators that produce electricity
that is sent to the grid. The project builds on the success of a
Cargill anaerob