California Methane Regulations Energize Innovation

Ambitious emission reduction laws invigorate new dairy practices.

One out of every five dairy cows in the United States lives in California—that’s 1.79 million milk cows. The California Air Resources Board (ARB) identifies dairies as the source of 60 percent of agricultural contributions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N20), which are greenhouse gases. ARB ranks livestock manure second on the methane-emitting scale with 10.228 million tons CO2 equivalent. This is 2.25 percent of the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Dairy cattle count for 9.89 million tons CO2 equivalent in the state and are distantly followed by poultry at 0.095 million tons CO2 equivalent. Methane is released into the atmosphere as microbial organisms decompose the manure.

Originally Published by: FarmProgress.com

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