Sonoma Organic Farm Makes the Best Out of Cow Manure

"Manure from 240 cows at an organic Petaluma dairy farm is being converted into renewable electricity.

The Petaluma City Council and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were at the St. Anthony Farm today where Sonoma County's first methane digester went on line.

The digester will use bacteria to break down manure from the cows and produce biogas which will then be converted into renewable electricity in an adjacent generator.

At the heart of the system is a 27,000-square-foot covered manure lagoon digester. Flushed manure from the organic dairy and wastewater from the farm's creamery will be pumped to the 2.3 million gallon covered lagoon. Microbes will then convert the organic matter into 17,000 cubic feet per day of methane rich biogas."

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