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EPA, ag secretary team up to promote farm energy generation


May 11, 2010  by Manure Manager

May 6, 2010, Washington, DC – U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson and U.S. Department of
Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced a new interagency
agreement promoting renewable energy generation and slashing greenhouse gas
emissions from livestock operations.



May 6, 2010, Washington, DC – U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
administrator Lisa P. Jackson and U.S. Department of
Agriculture
secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced a new interagency
agreement promoting renewable energy generation and slashing greenhouse gas
emissions from livestock operations. 

The agreement expands the work of the AgStar program, a
joint EPAUSDA effort that helps livestock producers reduce methane emissions
from their operations.

EPA and USDA’s enhanced collaboration will provide up to
$3.9 million over the next five years to help farms overcome obstacles
preventing them from recovering and using biogas. The collaboration will expand
technical assistance efforts, improve technical standards and guidance for the
construction and evaluation of biogas recovery systems, and expand outreach to
livestock producers and assist them with pre-feasibility studies.

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About 150 on-farm manure digesters are now operating at
livestock facilities across the U.S. In addition, EPA estimates there are about
8,000 farms across the United States that are good candidates for capturing and
using biogas. If all 8,000 farms implemented biogas systems, methane emissions
would be reduced by more than 34 million metric tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent a year, roughly equal to the annual emissions from 6.5 million
passenger vehicles. In addition, these projects could generate more than 1,500
megawatts of renewable energy.

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