Coalition sees farm and water quality solutions in renewable natural gas

By Mary Hookham
For DBA

Through advocacy, public-private collaboration and water stewardship, a growing group of farmers, businesses and organizations is focusing on nutrient management to meet water quality challenges in Wisconsin and support agriculture at the same time.

Their focus: renewable natural gas digesters.

Dairy cattle manure is already recognized as a valuable fertilizer, but its potential as a renewable energy source has still not been fully realized. Dairy farmers often do not consider biomass energy investments because of the regulatory and business hurdles they can face.

That’s where the Wisconsin Biomass Energy Coalition comes in. WBEC was founded in 2019 and today has a broad mix of members — from farmers and agricultural organizations to technology providers and energy companies.

“With the help of California and the work they’ve done with the low-carbon fuel standard, we want to create projects that will benefit everyone in the Midwest as well as our water quality,” Jessica Niekrasz of Clean Fuel Partners, a member of the coalition, said. “Digesters can be a part of this goal.”

The coalition is working with elected officials to create guidelines for carbon intensity reduction that will work for small, medium and large dairy farms.

WBEC took the lead in assisting state Rep. Gary Tauchen in putting together the Wisconsin Agriculture-Carbon/Energy/Water (A-CEW) Initiative.

Working groups involving coalitions members and others are covering the areas of biogas pipeline, carbon accounting, on-farm energy/distributed energy resources, carbon offset and supply chain, and carbon labeling. Team leaders are working to draft project objectives, interact with legislative officials, solicit public comments and submit final recommendations to relevant agencies and committees.

“We want to understand how best to work this process for everyone involved, and farmer input is crucial,” Niekrasz said.

Identifying farming practices that sequester carbon in the soil and working to capture greenhouse gases are top priorities. Credits generated and funded by the California fuel standard could then be sold on the open market to anybody with sustainability goals.

“One of our main goals is to create a system that recognizes and rewards farmers for sustainability efforts,” Dustin Delsman of UA 400 Pipe Trades, a WBEC member, said. “There are many uses for renewable natural gas, so this project checks all the boxes, in our eyes.”

John Holevoet, director of government affairs for the Dairy Business Association, another coalition member, said a number of projects are already underway in Wisconsin and the coalition wants to make the state attractive to other people who might invest.

“We are thinking about how best to position ourselves within the nation to do these types of projects,” Holevoet said. “Digesters and biogas development both have tremendous potential in the Midwest.”

These investments have numerous benefits for farmers, things like more energy efficiency, improved manure management and increased revenue from carbon markets. The state sees benefits too. Among them are energy and grid stabilization, more renewable energy options and better water quality.

“Building RNG facilities is a winning scenario for everybody at the table,” Delsman said. “These projects keep farmers, construction workers, pipefitters and plumbers in business. They’re environmentally sound projects that address some of the most contentious environmental issues, and the work is done locally.”

The additional revenue streams provided to farmers would help steady the volatility of milk and grain prices, Niekrasz said.

“Our hope is to be able to put digester facilities as a spoke-and-hub model for smaller farms and not just focus solely on larger farms,” Niekrasz said. “If small farms can have a revenue stream for their manure contribution, it’s a win-win in my opinion.”

“The more farmers we can have participate, the better,” she said. “There is a way for everyone to be involved.”

WBEC members and collaborators: ANGI Energy Systems, Brightmark, Byline Bank, Clarke Energy, Clean Fuel Partners, Dairy Business Association, Dairy Innovation Hub, Dairyland Power, DTE Biomass Energy, EnTech Solutions, Farmers for Sustainable Food, Jon-De Farm, Standard Dairy Consultants, The Water Council, UA 400 Pipe Trades, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, U.S. Gain, Novilla RNG and Wolf Gang Dairy.

Online: https://www.wibiomass.org/