Celebrating 20 Years of Anaerobic Digestion (Text Version)
Promoting the use of biogas recovery systems to reduce methane emissions from livestock waste
Building on 20 years of success
Emissions reductions from livestock AD
19 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent reduction in GHG emissions since 1994
Emission reduction equivalent to:
- CO2 emissions from
- 2 Billion gallons of gasoline consumed
- 2.6 Million homes’ electricity use for one year
- 5 Coal-fired power plants in one year
- Carbon sequestration by
- 15.5 Million acres of U.S. forest in one year
Energy production from livestock AD
- 5.3 Billion kilowatt hours (kWh) equivalent of energy since 1994
- 1994 10 Million kWh
- 2000 22 Million kWh
- 2008 350 Million kWh
- 2014 949 Million kWh
Co-benefits of anaerobic digestion
- Odor reduction
- Additional farm revenue
- Manure fiber products (bedding, potting soil, etc.)
- High-quality liquid fertilizer
- Potential for reduced phosphorus and nitrogen run-off
Partner program
- Non-Profit 9
- Academia 10
- State Government 11
AgSTAR partners with eligible organizations to promote the planning, deployment and long-term success of AD systems. Join us as we continue to grow over the next 20 years!
Resources
- AD101
- Outreach
- Education
- Farm ware fact sheets
- AgSTAR digest
- Partner program
- Vendor directory
- USDA status report
- AgSTAR handbook
- Farm project profiles
- Technical assistance
- National mapping tool
- Market opportunities
- Permitting guidelines
- Codigestion resources
- Common safety practices
- Project financing tools
- AgSTAR national conference
- Anaerobic digester database
- Basic AD system flow diagram
- AgSTAR regional workshops
- Biogas opportunities roadmap
- Digester performance evaluations
- Technical assistance
- Farm project profiles
- AgSTAR handbook fact sheets
- Farm ware
- Outreach
- Education
Today’s anaerobic digester landscape
U.S. livestock anaerobic digesters
In 1994, there were only a handful of anaerobic digesters operating on livestock farms. Since that time, more than 200 additional systems have been installed, resulting in approximately 247 digesters at the end of 2014.
Top five states with operating digesters
- Vermont 16
- California 20
- Pennsylvania 28
- New York 33
- Wisconsin 37
Digester projects by livestock type (total: 247 digesters)
- Dairy 76%
- Hog 15%
- Poultry 3%
- Beef 3%
- Mixed 3%
Timeline
- 1994 AgSTAR Program Launched
- 1995 NRCS Interim Technical Standards for Digesters Developed
- 1996 Regional AgSTAR Charter Farms Established
- 2002 Farm Bill Included Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program
- 2005 Energy Policy Act Created the RFS Program
- 2008 Farm Bill Revised to Include REAP Program
- 2009 NRCS Standards Revised
- 2014 RFS Pathways for Biogas Updated
- 2014 Biogas Opportunities Roadmap Published by DOE, EPA, USDA