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PG&E to buy cow gas
SAN FRANCISCO October 12, 2006 5:30am 
• To purchase gas made from cow waste • Microgy gets contract 
This cow on a Lodi dairy farm helps produce the gas that its farm uses to make its own electricity. Now PG&E wants to buy purified methane for its customers. (CVBT photo)
The estimated 1.6 million dairy cows in the Central Valley could help heat your home or business soon.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co, has signed a deal with Environmental Power Corp.’s Microgy Inc. subsidiary to buy up to 8,000 cubic feet of pipeline quality renewable natural gas from cow waste in California.
"The state of California is both the largest dairy producer and the largest energy consumer in the United States," says Rich Kessel, president and chief executive officer of Environmental Power (AMEX: EPG) of Portsmouth, N.H. "This agreement is an important step towards developing an important renewable energy source from California's vital agricultural sector."
Microgy plans to construct four production facilities on large dairy farms in California and interconnect those systems to PG&E's gas pipeline network. In addition to producing renewable energy, each of these facilities can produce significant greenhouse gas benefits.
"Biomethane takes the problem of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and turns it into a key part of the solution to California's reliance on fossil fuels," says Allen Dusault, biofuels project director for Sustainable Conservation, an environmental nonprofit organization. "The state has no shortage of dairy manure, and it can now be cost-effectively converted into 'cow power.' That makes good environmental and economic sense."
"We're excited about the opportunity this presents to make these renewable energy projects work economically for both dairies and utilities," says Michael Marsh, CEO of Western United Dairymen in Modesto. "This is a market-based solution, which we prefer over mandates."
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