Dominion partners with Vanguard to make natural gas out of cow manure

Dominion Energy, a renowned US-based power and energy company, reportedly announced a new collaboration with Vanguard Renewables, a US-based company working in the food and dairy waste conversion to energy. Dominion plans to generate natural gas from cow manure through this partnership.

Both companies have signed a $200 million nationwide strategic partnership. Under this contract, methane collected from dairy farms across U.S. would be used to generate clean and RNG (renewable natural gas) that would power businesses, fuel vehicles, and heat homes.

Multiple projects are presently underway in Nevada, Georgia, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado with extra projects planned across the nation. Under the strategic collaboration, Dominion would own the projects and sell the RNG.

Dominion Energy has a similar collaboration with Smithfield Foods. In this partnership, the company uses methane from hog farms and converts them to natural gas.

Methane is a strong greenhouse gas that is highly responsible for global warming. The company estimates that the project would cut emissions by an amount which would be comparable to removing about 100,000 cars from the road for one year.

Each project would comprise of a group of several farms. The methane from these farms is captured and moved by low-pressure lines in a conditioning facility. It is then processed and further cleaned before being delivered to consumers.

The project launch comes amidst hard times for dairy farms as they are facing a constant decline in milk consumption in the country. Participating farms would be offered an annual lease payments as well as compensation for the manure.

Dominion Energy’s Co-Chief Operating Officer, Diane Leopold stated that through the company’s strategic collaboration with Vanguard Renewables and the strategic alliance with Dairy Farmers of America, it is rapidly accelerating the growth of these transformational projects. This is the first project initiated on a nationwide scale.

Leopold further added that the consumer, environmental and agricultural benefits of these projects are groundbreaking. The company is lowering greenhouse gas emissions from dairy farms across the U.S. significantly. Meanwhile, it is also offering new clean energy sources to U.S. customers and further providing a new long-term source of income for farmers throughout the nation.

 

 

Source credit: https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/dominion-energy-partners-with-vanguard-renewables-to-convert-manure-to-natural-gas