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South San Joaquin Irrigation District considers anaerobic digester

Posted by: Maven on August 30, 2008 at 7:20 am

From Biomass Magazine:

The South San Joaquin Irrigation District, which provides irrigation water for the agricultural areas surrounding the cities of Escalon, Ripon, and Manteca in California, has begun a feasibility study to determine if the district should build an anaerobic digester to assist area dairy farmers, as well as produce and sell electricity. SSJID is considering a proposal to build a digester for Brasil & Sons Dairy Inc. in Escalon, which has 2,850 cattle that could supply feedstock for the facility.

Because the San Joaquin Valley has air quality problems and dairy operations contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, building an anaerobic digester in the district is not a new idea for the area, according to Jeff Shields, general manager for SSJID. There are as many as 120,000 head of cattle in the valley that contribute to the problem, he said. “Our interest is in helping dairy farmers deal with that,” Shields said. “To the extent that any of those facilities individually or collectively might represent 700 to 1,000 head of cattle, it might make sense for anaerobic digestion to be developed here.”

Read more from Biomass Magazine by clicking here.

August 30, 2008 · Filed Under Agriculture

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