A new project is seeking to turn cattle manure into a source of sustainable natural gas for energy production and shipping fuel. The initiative just broke ground in Broken Bow, Nebraska, where eight anaerobic digesters will process waste from the Adams Land & Cattle feedlot into what the project leads are hoping will be a lucrative and eco-friendly source of approximately 1.2 million MMBtu of pipeline-quality natural gas per year.
“The Adams Land & Cattle RNG facility demonstrates how American agriculture can play an important role in the future of renewable fuels,” Michael Bakas, CEO of Neogenyx Fuels, the company that owns the Nebraska facility, recently told Interesting Engineering. “By converting livestock waste into renewable natural gas with the potential to support bio-LNG production for global maritime markets, this project connects Nebraska to the growing demand for lower-carbon energy solutions across the world while driving private investment, job creation and local economic growth,” he went on to say.
These types of programs aren’t just good for the environment and for energy production, they are also great for farmers looking to diversify their income streams and reduce waste. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promotes these kinds of ‘biogas recovery’ operations as a plurally beneficial economic strategy for farmers. The EPA notes that in addition to introducing new income streams for farmers, these programs can inject new life into rural economies, promote the conservation of agricultural land, enhance energy autonomy and independence, foster closed-loop agricultural systems, and forge new connections between farmers and the communities that host them.
However, critics of biodigestion programs take issue with this last point. They argue that creating more revenue streams for large-scale cattle ranching will only exacerbate the environmental issues that they create. “The storage of hundreds of thousands of gallons of liquid manure ... pollutes the air and water of surrounding communities,” 15 members of Congress wrote in 2024 in response to a USDA move to provide federal funding to large-scale animal agriculture. “This inherently unsustainable manure storage system is only further entrenched by ... digesters.”
Moreover, experts say that biofuel facilities actually reduce air pollution from cattle ranching and feedlots by trapping and recovering gases that would otherwise be released into the air, often causing respiratory issues for nearby communities. Plus, they limit greenhouse gas emissions by capturing and repurposing methane. “This technology reduces odors and some local air pollutants,” said Sam Wade, director of public policy for the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas, was quoted by the Associated Press in a June, 2024 report. “At the same time, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions.”
The Nebraska facility estimates that its project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 63,700 metric tons annually once the facility is up and running at full capacity. Greenhouse gas watchdog organizations generally rate biogas projects with a carbon intensity value of -250, since they remove one of the most powerful greenhouse gases – the super-pollutant methane – from the atmosphere. By comparison, solar and wind energy projects are capped at a carbon intensity rating of zero or higher.
However, these ratings give pause to some environmentalists. There is concern that incentivizing biodigestion through carbon credits such as California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard credit program (LCFS) could make the situation worse, not better. “That may contribute to incentives for consolidation, herd growth or manure aggregation, although the extent to which the LCFS has caused observed consolidation is subject to debate,” Kevin Fingerman, a professor of energy and climate at California State Polytechnic University, recently told Inside Climate News.
Biogas has been a hugely controversial initiative in the state of California, where environmentalists and politicians have been embroiled in a battle over such projects for years now. But the location of this new facility in Broken Bow, Nebraska could help the project avoid some of these battles. Rural Nebraska is a whole lot less populated than rural California, potentially downgrading concern for community impact while the environmental benefits remain the same.
By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com
