Harnassing methane gas from cow manure.

Threemile Canyon Farms is working to convert dairy waste into fuel. Our farm's 16,000 dairy cows and our younger replacement herd produce 500,000 tons of manure annually - twice the waste produced by a city of 120,000 people, the size of Salem, Ore.

Harnessing the methane gas from that waste and using it for fuel or power is a key goal of our sustainable farming ethic. The Oregon Department of Energy, for example, estimates that the power-generating capacity from biomass sources such as manure, crop residue or wood represents about 10 percent of all generating capacity from renewable sources in the United States.

How it works

• A state-of-the-art, on-site digester receives liquid and solid wastes from our dairy flushing systems.
• The digester extracts methane gas from the manure.
• The methane gas is converted into green fuel - LNG - or electricity for sale to power customers. Experts estimate that methane from our farm could generate 6 to 8 megawatts of electricity or its equivalent in LNG.
• Leftover manure solids and liquids are separated after the methane gas is extracted. The solids are composted and applied to fields or sold as soil amendments. The liquids are diluted and then pumped through our irrigation system onto crops as fertilizer.

Meeting environmental and business goals

This green fuel project is part of Oregon's effort to develop more sources of renewable energy. Threemile Canyon Farms benefits by turning waste into a high-value product for sale. We anticipate that our work will provide other farms and utilities with a demonstration of the environmental value of recycling farm wastes into a sustainable source of fuel or power.