The CalBioGas Kern County biogas cluster – or Kern Cluster – was developed by a joint venture between California Bioenergy, Chevron U.S.A. Incorporated, and several California dairy farmers. The Dairy Digester Research and Development Program has awarded grants totaling over $17.6 million from California Climate Investments to the dairy operations in the Kern Cluster, which is comprised of eight family‑owned dairy farms. Thanks to these funds, these dairies now capture and prevent the release of methane – a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide – and are creating a renewable source of fuel.
The Kern Cluster includes Maple Dairy, Trilogy Dairy, T&W Dairy, BV Dairy, Belonave Dairy, Western Sky Dairy, McMoo Farms, and Newhouse Dairy. Each dairy will send methane captured from newly‑constructed dairy digesters into a central upgrading facility, where it will be upgraded to renewable natural gas and injected into the local gas utility’s pipeline for consumer and commercial use. Renewable natural gas has a negative carbon intensity lifecycle under the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard, and the renewable natural gas will be used as a fossil fuel alternative in heavy‑duty trucks and buses. Natural gas trucks emit 90 percent less oxides of nitrogen than diesel, which also helps improve local air quality. Pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen are pre‑cursors to smog and can cause or aggravate many health conditions.
“We are grateful to have been the recipient of [California Department of Food and Agriculture’s] dairy digester grant awards," said Cal DeJager, co‑owner of Western Sky Dairy. “Digesters are proven to be among the most cost‑effective solutions in helping California achieve its ambitious climate policy goals. It is an honor to partner with the state in a way that preserves the viability of California’s dairy industry while improving air quality benefits for every Californian.”
In addition to helping convert methane emissions to fuel and reducing emissions, the construction of dairy digesters exemplifies a growing agricultural clean‑tech industry in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
“The benefits of these projects really go beyond just methane reductions”, said Brian Wind, a third‑generation farmer and co‑owner of T&W Dairy. “The investments made by California have led to the creation of new jobs which will have lasting impacts throughout the community.”